


Chocobo SOLDIERs

by Sylvia_Forest



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Badass Chocobo Antics will ensure and will be Hilarious, Bill may be a bit OCC sorry, Cloud lets Tifa drive Fenir but no one else, Cloud raises Chocobos near Edge, Everyone swears at one point or another, M/M, MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AGAINST A CHILD, SOLDIERs turned Chocobo, Sephiroth is a precious baby from another world, tags added as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:35:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 43,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23306905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylvia_Forest/pseuds/Sylvia_Forest
Summary: Everything was going right in the world, Zack had a stable relationship with Aerith in the lifestream as they watched over Cloud together and kept everything going right in the lifestream. That was until Zack woke up alive on Gaia with the three SOLDIERs he once looked up to, only they were all Chocobos now.With no idea what's going on and with three very confused and lost SOLDIERs turned Chocobo he now has to watch over, Zack tries his hardest to get in touch with Cloud and get his help sorting things out or at least getting him close enough to Aerith's Church that he could contact her clearly and ask her what was going on.Meanwhile, Cloud now has his hands full trying to control three fighting and very familiar mako enhanced Chocobos, and his only saving grace is that the youngest seems to be the only sane one and tends to break up the fights faster then they can start.
Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 57
Kudos: 226





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zack wakes up and freaks out, but also quickly recovers (your not Aerith's boyfriend for very long if you can't roll with the punches and crazy things the planet does daily.) though the three with him are much slower in just rolling with their situation. Zack resigns himself to be a baby sitter for SOLDERs older than him and sets out to find them all a way to get to the only one he knows can protect them until Zack has everything figured out.
> 
> Cloud on the other hand just got done killing dragons for the Turks (better to just not ask) when Bill calls about a mysterious and unusual black Chocobo until things go wrong and Cloud is left worrying about the man and doing reckless things to get to him faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a new story I got the idea of while reading Final Fantasy 7 time travel fics. Strange considering that the only mention of Chocobos in all of them that I read was nods to Cloud raising Racing Chocobos, or Cloud showing up SOLDIERs as he controls chocobos effortlessly, especially the wild ones. But anyway!
> 
> This isn't a solid story yet, I don't know where I'm taking it. I am going to work on this one and my other FF7 story while the world slowly goes crazy though so don't think that this is going to sit unworked on for months. Not anymore since my mom was forced to close her store and I have free access to her laptop now. Rip our paychecks.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 1**

The breeze felt great, soft and airy but filled with the scent of fresh grass and rain. It felt good to feel it again after feeling nothing for such a long time. No offense to his girl, but if the breeze left when he opened his eyes then he didn't want to see her again. He shifted without opening his eyes and he felt wrong like things weren't in their proper place.

So caught up in his own feeling of wrongness, he didn't even feel the movement beside him, his eyes shooting open as a startled and distressed call came from in front of him, a call soft and poetic and oh so familiar, but also very much that of a startled chocobo. And sure enough, panicking and trying to stand was a beautiful crimson chocobo, his cries only increasing as he kept failing to stand.

Looking around showed him two other chocobos, a silver and a black, both watching the struggling red chocobo, the black one slowly trying to approach by falling forward, only to catch itself with its wings, almost as if it didn't know how to walk properly. He watched silently, wondering if this was a dream or reality, as the black one finally reached the red one and started cooing gently, his voice deep but friendly and still also very, very painfully familiar.

Then the silver one moved, shifting its head to look at him, glowing green cat-like eyes watching him closely, as it stood gracefully and took two steps forward, towards the red chocobo as well, only to fall flat, its wings flying out too late to catch him. When his head lifted from the ground, his feathers covered in grass and dirt, his eyes were wide with shock and confusion, and maybe a bit of fear that it had fallen flat on its face when the other two had just fallen back down onto their chests. The silver chocobos eyes narrowed into a glare at him, a deep, rich, and smooth warning sound coming from it, and he froze in place. He knew only one person who had eyes like that, whose voice could command even without words, and suddenly he was scared to look at himself. But he did, and the sound that came from him alerted the other two to his presence.

Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class, Defender of the last Cetra, and the only one capable of getting through to Cloud Strife to make him go home when he was gone too long, was a black chocobo on his side watching three other chocobos who he could finally put names to. And Zack didn't know how to feel about that.

Genesis Rhapsodos, ex-SOLDIER First Class, was watching him with narrowed glowing sapphire blue eyes. Angeal Hewely, also ex-SOLDIER First Class, and his deceased mentor, was watching him with less suspicion than Genesis, but also very suspiciously, with glowing steel blue eyes. Sephiroth, Calamity's son, adored and loved General of SOLDIER, and fellow First Class SOLDIER, was standing back up, his green cat-like eyes flickering between Genesis, Angeal, and Zack, almost as if nervously watching for any sign that he would have to interfere and stop a fight.

Zack cautiously stood, finding himself a lot more balanced if he just let his body flow with the motions, and slowly turned around in a circle, once to show he wasn't dangerous and then a second time to survey the land again. He knew of a lot of plains, but this one screamed Chocobo to him, something to do with chocobos, and not the three still watching him. He paused and stared off at the mountains in the distance, something, most likely instinct or repressed memories, screaming at him that going in that direction would be a bad idea, something about giant snake monsters.

"That's the marshes," came a quiet and awed voice from beside him. Zack's head whipped over to the source of the sound, only to see that the three had gathered closer to him while he was looking around, apparently having already mastered their new bodies if they were able to move quietly again. Sephiroth looked confused and lost and so very, very innocent, Angeal was staring towards the marshes in confusion and slight hints of fear, and Genesis looked on with almost childlike awe at the marshes before them, clearly wanting to run in and explore them. It made Zack want to gather them around him and explain that they couldn't go play in the dangerous places and that they had to stay close to him and do as he says, like Cloud does with the kids in Edge and the other towns he travels to where the kids tend to follow him around like baby chocobos do to their mothers.

Then Zack recognized why they were looking on like they were. They were out of there times and thrown into sometime after that whole Reunion experience. Angeal had died first so the changes would be unknown to him, Sephiroth second though he was more a pain than anything else, using clones to chase and terrorize Cloud around the world and try to kill him again in the ruins of Midgar, but he also wouldn't have been around to see the world-changing, and Genesis… Last time he saw Genesis was on the outskirts of Banora after healing him and then taking Cloud and trying to make it to Midgar. Last he checked, Genesis wasn't dead but Aerith had said that he was sleeping somewhere and was constantly getting weaker. Zack knew he had died on the cliffs overlooking Midgar, had left Cloud alone and broken, but Aerith and him were watching over their slowly recovering Chocobo headed family member together from the lifestream.

"Come on guys," Zack said, moving in front of the others, only to realize he was smaller than them, but that had never stopped him before, nor did it ever stop Cloud from taking down something ten times his size. "We are heading towards Bill's Chocobo Farm. He should realize we have Mako in our systems and will call the only man on the planet that can care for Mako Chocobos."

The three ex-SOLDIERs blinked in shock as they were pecked and shoved away from the Marshes quite violently by the smaller black chocobo, though they didn't really try to stop him either, just made it easier by turning around and following where he led, and soon they started hearing the soft 'kweks' from other Chocobos.

Zack sighed and resigned himself to being the three's guardian until Cloud could come get them. 'Damn I own Spike so much,' Zack thought as Bill's house came into view.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Cloud groaned as he stretched out his sore and bruised muscles. No matter how strong someone got or how many times you fought the same giant monster, they always found a way to change things and send you flying through the nearest solid object. Especially the damn mako fuelled and crazy Nibel Dragons.

Pulling out his PHS he sent a quick text to Reno telling him that the dragon problem on Mt. Nibel was done and he expected the payment to get to Seventh Heaven before him. Then he opened his contacts and hovered over the call button next to Tifa's name. Signal was spotty, but it was good enough where he could call her and let her know he was done and heading home. Another moment and his mind was made up, but before he could press the call button, his PHS rang, rather loudly at that, and he hurriedly answered it before even checking who was calling.

"Hold on you damn bird," came the gruff voice over the phone, as if the person calling was half asleep. "I'm calling him now."

"Hello?" Cloud asked, blinking owlishly, heart still pounding in overdrive, his eyes scanning to see if any other dangerous monsters were going to come to explore the very loud and sudden noise.

"Cloud!" Came the relieved and slightly more awake voice. "It's Bill. I have a chocobo here that I think belongs to you. I mean I think it does, its eyes are glowing and unless it's a wild bird, you're the only one who can actually raise and tame the damn things."

"Describe the bird for me, Bill," Cloud said, his heart finally settling, leaning against the cliff wall beside him since service was spotty and Cid was supposed to pick him up at this spot in an hour or so.

"Smaller black, eyes have the mako glow," Bill started listing, and Cloud started running through his flock mentally, so far the description matched three of his blacks, though all of them were too well behaved to run half the continent to get to Bill's place. "But his eyes are strange, way too intelligent for his own good. The color is also extremely unusual."

Cloud paused, none of his blacks were male, the intelligence was explained through mako exposure, but the color? "What color are they? And be careful around him until I get there, the bird is a wild."

"Not your bird then?" Bill snorted. "Doesn't matter, he keeps pecking your picture and insisting I get you over here. He wants to be owned by you for some reason."

"Color of the eyes Bill," Cloud repeated, though the birds' actions were really suspicious in and of themself.

"Blue, but when they hit the light right," Bill paused and cocked his head, then chuckled. "Smart one alright. When the light hits his eyes just right they are the most vibrant purple I've ever seen."

Cloud hummed in thought, listening as the sounds of the _Shera_ got closer to him, and pulling his phone away to check the time, huffed a laugh. Figures Cid would come forty minutes early.

A very sudden and very loud distressed sound rang from the phone and Cloud heard Bill yelp and then loud crashes were heard.

"Bill?" Cloud called out, his phone back to his ear quickly. "Bill, what happened? Are you alright?"

"Fuck!" Was all Cloud got before something smashed again and the line went dead.

"Bill?!" Cloud growled and quickly tried to recall the man, only to get the answering machine. "Damn It!"

Cloud could hear the _Shera_ more clearly now, and Cloud quickly scanned the sky to find Cid's most loved ship, and when he found the airship, he sent a silent prayer for Cid to forgive him and then ran up the mountain as fast as he could and leapt with all the strength he had to land on the _Shera_ as she came closer to him, though he just about jumped into the side of the ship if he had gone any faster, or if Vincent wasn't there to grab him and stop the force that would have broken something in the ship.

"Hello Cloud," Vincent said, his face a neutral mask even though they had both fallen into the position where Cloud was sitting on Vincent's hips. "You make a habit of jumping off mountains?"

Cloud snorted and stood, before helping Vincent up. "Only when I don't have time to wait for Cid to stop the _Shera_ and then start her up again." And then they were walking with a purpose into the bridge where Cid was fuming with anger. Cloud was suddenly very happy he would just get yelled at for jumping onto the _Shera_ instead of breaking something on the _Shera_.

"You better have a damn good reason for jumping onto my baby!" Cid growled, spinning around to face him as he got closer. "Or you'll find your ass walking back to Edge!"

"Bill called inquiring about a Mako enhanced black chocobo," Cloud started.

"And in your haste to get home to grab your bike to go see the damn thing you thought jumping onto the Shera was a good idea?!" Cid growled out.

"I thought jumping onto the _Shera_ would get us to Bill's farm faster," Cloud answered, pulling out his phone and trying to call Bill again. "Something happened to him right before the line went dead." A low inhuman growl left his throat as he slammed his phone shut again, though only his friends noticed. "I'm hoping that the Black just got into something he shouldn't have and Bill dropped his phone and then the bird broke it. But it's a wild enhanced bird, intelligent enough to ask for me, and nothing asking for me is ever simple and safe."

With that said, Cloud moved closer to the windows of the bridge and dialed Tifa's number. He needed someone with Bill an hour ago.

Vincent and Cid shared a look and then Cid returned to the wheel and changed the course to reach Bill's Farm. They both knew any wild creature, monster or animal, that was exposed to mako either got violent or intelligently violent, unless raised at birth with mako in them to control themselves and behave without violence unless necessary. Cid liked Bill, knowing that Bill could be in danger made _Shera_ 's Captain put all systems into overdrive, if something broke Vincent and Cloud would help him fix it, and push his baby to get to the Chocobo Farm faster.

Cloud's conversation with Tifa and the relieved sigh Cloud let out helped calm Cid's nerves just a bit, thankfully Tifa had training driving the monster of a bike Cloud loved and she could use it to reach Bill first. Knowing that Cid let his baby run just a bit faster, Tifa or not, Bill might need to use the emergency supplies they kept on the _Shera_.

"Five hours till we reach Bill's Farm," Cid announced, watching everything in front of him and taking in all the readings. "You got a blizzard in that arsenal of yours today, Blondie?" Cloud nodded, looking back at Cid. "Good. Then go down to the engines and if they start hitting the red cool them down. I'm going faster than the _Shera_ can handle for a trip this long. So get working."

Cloud nodded again and left the bridge. Cid only hoped they got to Bill and found him safe and sound with nothing more than a few broken items and equipment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud meets the Chocobo SOLDIERs and gives them checkups! And plot happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My mother got our old laptop working again so I can update on this piece of junk again! Expect faster updates and actual responses to comments from now on!
> 
> Enjoy guys!

**Chapter 2**

Zack could only glare at the three before him. He was so close to getting Bill to get Cloud to come down and they decided to fight where Zack put them out of sight? He was done with them. The SOLDIERs he knew were not these three before him. No, these three were children. Utter children.

With a groan, Zack stalked up to the three still fighting and smacked them all with his wings. A love tap that actually sent them all to their knees, to Zack's utter shock.

"What was that for?" Came the indignant and enraged response from Genesis, his red feathers fluffing out in anger.

'Threat posture,' Zack thought. 'Cloud taught that you were to stay away from an enraged chocobo that was posturing.'

Zack went over to Genesis and hit him again.

"Listen to me and listen well," he growled out. "You three are going to knock it off or I'm going to put you all into your places by force. Now you three are going to follow me and you're going to stay quiet and not mess with each other."

Genesis looked livid, but he huffed and turned his head away from Zack, clearly not wanting to listen to orders. That was until Angeal bumped him and made him follow, and saw Sephiroth following Zack like a lost baby chocobo.

Zack found himself cooing gently to Seph, like a mother would her children when scared, and using his wings to keep Sephiroth, who was taller than him, close to him as he led the way back to Bill's house. But he still caught the conversation going on behind him.

"The small one is strong," Genesis was spitting out, glaring at Zack's back. "Strong enough to knock us all down with one wing."

"It's probably just us not being used to having the body of a chocobo," Angeal responded, nudging Genesis with his head. "And stop trying to set him on fire with your eyes. It's not going to work."

Zack shook his head and tuned out Genesis' grumbles. "Why did I expect anything else from him?"

"You can hear them?" Came the soft whisper from beside him. Zack looked up to see Seph watching him curiously. "I can barely make out what they are saying unless I focus on them."

"Really?" Zack asked. "How long have you known them?"

"I met them a month ago," Sephiroth said, even quieter. "I don't think they like me much. But I guess not being liked and in a chocobo body is better than going off to war in a human body to slaughter innocent people."

Zack paused in his steps, and since he had a wing holding onto Sephiroth, Seph stopped as well. Met a month ago? War? What? "Sephiroth, how old are you?"

"Hojo says that I'm twelve."

Zack was whirling around to face the two others before they even stopped moving. "How old are you both?"

"I'm fifteen," Angeal stated, blinking in confusion.

"Twenty-five," Genesis said, blinking at the three around him.

"Last thing you all remember!" Zack managed to get out through the rapidly forming lump in his throat.

"Mud and rain before I fell asleep," Sephiroth quietly answered. "And pain, like someone had stabbed me."

"I had an appointment with Hollander after I got back from my time in Wutai," Angeal said, confusion taking over. "Except transport was shot down from the sky, last thing I remember was fire and overwhelming pain."

"An insane scientist trying to use me to make the perfect weapons because a certain blond warrior killed his last perfect weapons," Genesis stated, eyes narrowing in thought. "I was certain that I had hidden far enough inside their precious tower of metal that they couldn't reach me though."

Zack felt like dying, he honest to god felt like dying. "Holy…"

Angeal looked at him then, head tilted in curiosity. "What about you? What's the last thing you remember?"

Zack looked up at the sky, then down to the ground. "Setting Sephiroth and Angeal souls to rest with my girlfriend in the lifestream."

"The lifestream?" Came the slightly condescending response. Zack looked up to see Angeal watching him, his eyes showing just how much he liked the idea of the lifestream.

"I don't see why not," came the airy response from Genesis. "If the goddess could cure me of a disease, not even science could cure, then the lifestream can exist. The place where all souls go to rest and become one with the planet."

"You're just a basket case of problems Minerva didn't want to deal with," Zack said without thinking. "It took far too long to get Angeal to finally settle and join the lifestream, and Seph kept breaking out to follow his damn crush and try to make him fall for him with the weirdest courting rituals ever. I don't think Gaia could handle more than one depressed believing themselves to be a monster super soldier in the lifestream at that time."

Everything was silent, Zack finally realizing what he said. Then Genesis laughed, the sound airy and melodic to the four SOLDIER chocobos, but like a melodic kwek to anyone else. With eyes glowing in amusement, Genesis knocked his head against Zacks and huffed.

"It is good to see you again, pup."

"I fucking missed you," Zack responded, letting his head fall into Genesis' chest. "Watching you through the lifestream and trying to help was killing me, even though I was already dead."

The melodic laugh rang through the air again.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

The roar of the bike dulled to a low rumble as Tifa neared the farm. Everything looked fine, nothing broken or on fire from what she could see. In fact, all the chocobos were calm and playing contently in the fields, Bill lounging on the fence watching as she approached.

"Hello Tifa," Bill greeted as she cut the engine and he approached.

"Bill," Tifa said, climbing off the bike and meeting him halfway. "Cloud called saying that it sounded like you were in trouble, something about things breaking and then not being able to get in touch with you again."

"He had all right to be worried and get you to come out," Bill stated, shaking his head. He then started moving off towards his house. "The damn birds were behind my house fighting. Almost blew a chunk of the place off as well."

Tifa blinked, confused. Cloud told her it sounded like Bill was under attack, nothing about birds. Following him, she voiced her confusion in one word. "Birds?"

"The whole reason I called Cloud in the first place, except it was only one bird before the fighting began and I saw the other three. I was scared more for the birds then myself, hell you would too. A silver, black, and red were fighting, and the black that was with me when the fighting started ran into the fighting soon as he saw. The black was smaller than the other three and I was worried that he would be killed and so would the other ones, but he just ran in and smacked them all over the head and made them submit to him." Bill gushed, his voice filled with awe and wonder. And as they turned the corner she could tell why.

Four mako enhanced chocobos, one silver, one red, and two blacks were all gathered right next to scorched and battle ruined land.

"You called Cloud about them right?" Tifa asked, moving closer to the birds even though Bill had stopped.

"Only about the smaller black, then my phone was smashed and broken when I dropped it and things were falling."

Tifa pulled her PHS out and pushed the speed dial number for Cloud, then threw the phone towards Bill and continued her slow but purposeful pace to the four birds. She heard Bill start talking to Cloud, Cloud probably mother chocobo-ing him, but she kept her purpose clear. She was going to get to those birds.

She stopped when the smaller black turned his head to look at her, holding still and staying calm when she saw him climb to his feet and turn towards her.

"Kweh!"

Suddenly, all Tifa could see were black feathers and bright blue eyes. The smaller black had just slammed his body into her and wrapped his wings around her to help her keep standing, something Tifa knew chocobos couldn't do, their wings didn't move like that, Cloud had shown her when he had to take x-rays of a broken wing. Something about the bone structure didn't allow the movement of the wings forward that far.

Tifa laughed as she felt the bird start rubbing against her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Cloud was the doctor not her, she just listened to what he said to tend to the birds when gone for more than a day. Cloud would just have to inspect them when he got here.

"Kwek! Kwek!" Then the bird was gone, to be replaced by the three other birds, but these ones stopped close enough for her to touch their becks.

The Red one looked a bit wary, but eventually stuck his head out to push her lightly, his sapphire blue eyes sparkling with a soft playfulness. Tifa chuckled and ran her hand through his dirty feathers. "You are so dirty," she said softly, only for the red bird to pull back and look at the smaller black as if to confirm the fact. She laughed when the smaller black nodded his head and the red one deflated and fell to the ground, clearly being dramatic. "That's not helping keep you clean."

The red one glared at her, did a huff and wandered over to Bill, who had finished talking to Cloud and had come closer. Tifa watched for a quick moment as the red bird studied Bill then shifted and wandered back over to lay on the ground behind her legs to the right, the smaller black watching the entire time.

The second one brave enough to approach her was the larger black with steel-blue eyes, his head slowly coming closer to her and then retreating. She smiled and kept her hands clasped in front of her. The babies in the pack and new wilds Cloud found and tamed were the same way. She had learned patience with Cloud, she could be patient with a scared chocobo for weeks.

Thankfully she didn't have to be patient for weeks, as the black eventually cooed softly and then nuzzled her head before moving to lay next to the red. Moving slowly to not startle the silver chocobo, Tifa turned around and gently placed her hand on the black.

"Can I look at you closer?" She asked, after getting the blacks' attention. The taller black looked over at the smaller one, then cocked his head in confusion. Tifa looked over to see the smaller black shake his head in what was clearly frustration, lay down then stand up and spread his wings out. She looked back at the taller black to see he was still confused until the red nudged the black.

"Kwek." Then the red was standing, looking down patiently at the black, who stood after a long moment. Pleased, the red spread his wings and stood still, watching the black again. But the black didn't spread his wings as the red did, he looked scared.

Tifa reached over carefully to the red and gently ran her hand over his outstretched wing. The red turned his head to look at her, then shifted his wing closer to her, letting her get a better view of the appendage.

"Kwek." The red sounded proud of himself, almost smug. Then the smaller black was shoving himself between them, glaring bodily harm at the red before moving her closer to the larger black that finally looked calm enough to allow Tifa to check him over.

"Red is a little dirty but otherwise in perfect health from what I can see," Tifa said softly, eyes flicking over to Bill who nodded and made a note in his book for Cloud. "Taller black is dirty as well, but also in perfect health. The smaller one is hyper, really dirty, and perfectly healthy. Now to see about the silver."

Tifa turned around to look at the silver, only to stop and blink as the silver was close enough to touch her but had been looking over her shoulder at what she was doing to the other three. Fluffing up his wings and settling down he let her run her fingers through his feathers letting out soft coos and rumbles of pleasure as she worked.

"Silver is in perfect health, he has some grass stuck in his feathers and dirt on his neck, but seems calm enough."

When Tifa stopped checking the silver, he pushed himself into her side and cooed for her to continue petting him.

Bill laughed and shook his head. "Cloud says they should be here in an hour, said something about not believing I'm alright until he sees for himself no matter what we say."

Tifa laughed and moved to sit down between all four chocobos. "Well, he is a mother chocobo, Bill."

The smaller black let out what sounded like a short burst of a laugh, before settling beside Tifa and resting his head on the silver one who had decided Tifa was a comfy pillow and had fallen asleep. With a small chuckle, Tifa shifted to make it more comfortable for the silver and black without waking the silver up or removing his head from her. Life was about to get so much more interesting with these four around.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Cloud knew he was worried for no reason, Tifa was with Bill, he was fine, and apparently, he had three more wild mako enhanced male chocobos to take under his care and tame. But that didn't stop him from being the first off the _Shera_ when Cid landed and gave the go to leave the ship. Of course, he also wasn't expecting to be body-slammed as soon as he got off the ramp by a black chocobo, only his enhancements and Vincent's appearance helped him stand his ground as the black left to jump around him.

"That has to be the most hyperactive and person loving wild mako enhanced black I believe we have ever seen," Vincent stated, amusement in his voice but his face a dead mask. "I believe he was looking forward to seeing the loved and adored blond chocobo."

Cid's gruff laughter rang out from the top of the ramp.

"Thanks for reminding me you have a sense of humor, you damn vampire."

Cloud grumbled as he strode past the prancing black and towards where Tifa and Bill were calmly waiting with three other chocobos. Cloud took in the three chocobos appearances as he approached. The red and black were clearly dirty but looked content to just sit at Tifa's feet and watch him approach, sapphire blue eyes filled with content and humor, steel blue eyes content but wary. The silver one was clearly feeling safe enough to sleep, his head on Tifa's lap as she sat on the fence Bill was leaning against. Taking in Tifa and Bill's appearance finally let his mind fall to ease as Bill had no signs of injury and the air had no lingering smell of materia being used nearby.

Then he noticed Tifa was watching something to his right, her eyes hard and confused.

Glancing over to see what she saw, he stopped. The black chocobo that had jumped on him in excitement had fallen to follow him on his right side, like he had seen military men do to those superior to them, like he had seen Zack do with Sephiroth while he was still a trooper.

'Military trained? Who trained him and why? For what purpose?'

The black cocked his head at him and in a fashion only chocobos could manage smiled at him, his head cocked just at the right angle to show off vibrant violet eyes from the sunlight. Eyes Cloud could never forget even in death, eyes belonging to Zack Fair.

Cloud quickly turned his head back to Tifa, knowing even though his face was a mask she would be able to see his conflicting emotions within his eyes. And he was right, though Tifa also looked as if she had seen a ghost, one she had only seen the day their lives turned upside down and all hell broke loose.

Cloud needed to examine all four of the chocobos, the coloration of the feathers, eye color, if they had any sign of recognition in them. He had to be sure before he brought any more pain to himself.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

"Cloud is going to check all of us over," Zack said to the three with him, his eyes taking in everything about the empty barn Cloud had led them all into. "He's going to be a bit rougher than Tifa but he will also be gentle. He is going to have to feel around for anything off with our bones, any scars we might have, any injuries we are not aware of, how our feathers are faring, basic chocobo raising checkups."

"And the machines they are bringing in?" Seph asked, standing closer to Zack, clearly curious about the activities he was woken up for. His eyes screamed curiosity but also fear.

"You want to check them out?" Zack asked, tilting his head towards them while watching Seph.

"He said to say here though," Seph cooed softly, his eyes still glued to the machines. "Will they hurt us?"

Zack laughed and nudged Seph, then started walking towards the machines. "Come on, Seph! As long as we don't break any of them I can explain them all to you, and any I can't I can just ask Spike!"

Genesis nudged Angeal to get his attention. "Do you want to follow them and learn about the machines as well?"

"No," Angeal said, his eyes watching Sephiroth with fondness. "I know what all of them are, Seph is the one without a proper education or childhood. Let Zack teach him."

Zack laughed and nudged Seph closer to one of the machines. "Let's see here," A quick cock of his head and Zack had pushed the machine lightly to see it better. "This one is a weight machine, it will allow Cloud to measure your mass to see where you sit on the scale for weight. Mako enhanced birds have different weights from normal birds, mostly because we have more bone structure and muscle than the others. The one next to it is an x-ray machine, just in case, Cloud feels something wrong with the bones somewhere. Let's hope he doesn't have to use it, don't want one of us to have something broken now do we?"

"No," Seph answered, moving to poke and ask about other machines, and Zack happily explained them all. He explained about the heart monitor, the counters, the pressure tests, and the various other machines that checked other vitals all while being unintrusive. By the time Sephiroth's curiosity of the machines was sated, Cloud was leaning against the door to the barn watching them, a small frown on his face.

"Okay!" Zack spoke up, leading Seph back to Angeal and Genesis. " I'll get the first check-up so you guys can see how this goes without being scared. This is going to be a bit uncomfortable because Cloud is going to be rougher, but don't worry, we're all going to be fine. Just do what I do and this will go quickly!"

"What if he asks us to do something differently?" Angeal asked, his head cocked to the side.

"I'll be by your sides for your check-ups," Zack answered, standing taller and nudging Angeal. "Any commands you don't hear from him while he's looking over me, I'll show you what they are. I know how to do this, I've watched him raise chocobos far too long to not know all his commands."

Zack knew he was right in going first, he had no problem doing what Cloud asked, making sure the others heard the command and registered it to a movement. He knew Cloud well enough to read the others' eyes. Cloud wasn't confused about him knowing the commands, he was scared. Zack knew that Cloud was the only one on Gaia that still raised chocobos to follow military commands, but watching Cloud start fearing that the wild chocobos might not actually be wild but lost and might have another disaster on his hands was making him hesitate slightly on following the commands, but he knew for the others he had to show them that it was going to be okay. The only relief Zack felt was when he came back over with Angeal and then Genesis and did the commands to show them what Cloud wanted when something new came up.

Unfortunately, Zack forgot how unique Sephiroth's eyes were and when Cloud got to the last test, getting them to follow a light so he could see into the eyes, Zack knew Seph would have to look right at Cloud and Cloud would likely overreact to the sight of the eyes of his greatest enemy *coughstalkercough*.

Zack watched, ready to jump and stop Cloud from hurting the baby that was Seph, but stood slack-jawed as Seph's eyes acted just like a cat's getting really huge in the lights beam, and then back to slits when the light went away, Cloud no the wiser as he had turned his back and didn't see Seph's eyes turn into slits. Zack had just relaxed when Cloud turned back around suddenly and Seph and Cloud were eye to eye.

"Sephiroth," Cloud whispered, his voice filled with awe and longing.

Sephiroth's eyes lit up with recognition. He shifted to push his head against Cloud's chest and cooed softly, "My beloved golden one."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud panics, Chaos makes an appearance, Zack and the others start getting closer to figuring out how they are all together and where they are all from, but they still have no idea what's really happening and why. Also, something happens while Cloud is with them that night and he's suddenly hearing them speaking 'normally' and not in Chocobo speak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me start this off by saying, I didn't plan for this to happen. Nope. Not at all. It wrote itself like this. So I have no control over my own story anymore. Hope you all enjoy this crazy rollercoaster of a story!
> 
> Also let me just say I have my own head cannon where Chaos is attracted to foul-mouthed Blondes, like Cid and Cloud. And Vincent may also have the same attraction towards Blondes, but it's towards the older blondes, like thirty plus. So when Chaos flirts with Cloud it gets very uncomfortable for him because I also have this thing where when I write stories Vincent speaks what Chaos wants, but he always sees Cloud as more of a son instead of a potential love interest like Chaos does.
> 
> This is also very much unedited. This entire story is unedited, I only spell checked as I wrote with google docs and Grammarly, but even then they suggest strange things and change things only to say that they are wrong and the first way was right all along. So yeah.
> 
> ENJOY THE STORY!

**Chapter 3**

Cloud stood shock still, his head still reeling and twisting in on itself. Sephiroth was before him, the world ending, Son of the Calamity, insane madman, was a Silver Chocobo cooing and pressing himself against Cloud's side, as if they were best friends. He was twisted and confused. He had choked out Sephiroth's name as if it were holy, with awe and longing. Was he really so far gone into his own inner demons that the prospect of having even a chocobo version of Sephiroth around was something he wanted?

Cloud snapped himself out of his shock, his head still reeling and his mind still racing, and shoved the silver chocobo away from him, and ran out of the barn and didn't stop running until he had crashed into Vincent, who wisely dragged him into the sleeping chambers of the _Shera_ and locked them both into Cloud's personal room.

"Cloud?" Vincent asked, watching the very panicked man carefully. "What happened?"

"I am going crazy," Cloud muttered, pacing in the small room, glancing everywhere and nowhere at once. "The silver one has His eyes and when I said His name the chocobo cooed and pushed against me as if I said his name. I don't know what to do. I don't know if I'm just sleep-deprived or overworked or if Sephiroth is really back in the form of a silver fucking chocobo!"

Vincent didn't outwardly react to the news, but when Cloud looked over at him he could see the slight tilt that Vincent had to his head when talking to Chaos. Only from watching Vincent for hours would you even realize his head moved but it worked for everyone when Vincent could hold a staring contest with a Turk and have conversations with Chaos at the same time.

Strangely, seeing Vincent talking to Chaos helped calm him down some, enough to stop pacing and plop himself down on the cot built into the wall. Cloud watched Vincent from the corner of his eye, while also staring at the blank wall before him. Nothing like staring at nothing to finish calming Cloud down completely, and the presence of a close friend.

Something told Cloud that he would be nowhere and lost if it wasn't for his family of misfits.

"Chaos wants to see the silver chocobo before you freak out anymore," Vincent said, his voice filled with amusement. "Though he did say you should continue pacing so he can continue to see if you and Cap have the same ass shape."

"Okay." Cloud muttered, lowering his head into his hands. "I'll take you to the barn in a second."

"Will you pace again, Chosen One?" Came the distorted voices of Chaos and Vincent.

Cloud looked up confused, only to stare at Vincent's horrified face. He ran the conversation through his mind, blinking in total confusion. Did he miss something?

"What?" Cloud asked, then his face went red, from embarrassment, anger, or humiliation no one knew. "NO! Chaos we already had this discussion! Stop staring at my ass! You're walking next to me or in front of me, not behind!"

Cloud growled and shoved Vincent out of the door before him, flinching as he heard the lock break.

"Better fix that before Cid finds out," Came the amused chuckle from the demon man in front of him. "And it's not my fault you possess such a lovely ass that begs to be worshiped and adored~"

"Shut up and go back to sleep you damn asshole!" Cloud growled, shoving the man down the ramp to the _Shera_.

Tifa chose that moment to leave Bill's house with a bin of trash and shot Cloud the raised eyebrow, the silent inquiry of asking him what was going on.

"Chaos is being a perv again," Cloud called out, then watched as Tifa got the 'got it' look and nodded her head. "Might want to tell Cid to get the cage ready if Chaos doesn't fuck off."

Cloud barely heard her start laughing as she re-entered the house, giving him a thumbs-up before she disappeared completely.

"Hardly necessary, Chosen One," came the purr by his ear, before a clawed hand groped his ass. "I think your room is cage enough. You would have to watch over me though~"

"And I think you're going to lose your hand if you don't remove it from my ass," Cloud growled, and shifted so his ever-present blade slid against Chaos' wrist.

Not much could scare Chaos off, Chaos only agreed to leave you alone after you became violent towards him, but one thing that always stopped Chaos was the Fusion Sword, First Tsurugi. Something about it being the bones of the WEAPONs being able to actually kill Chaos or something. Cloud didn't believe it, but he could believe that if he cut Chaos' hand off again it would take him a solid month to regrow a new one unless Cid took pity on him and took him to a doctor to get the appendage reattached, again.

Chaos was quick to snatch his hand away, and quickly disappear and let Vincent take control again. Cloud growled, he was kinda hoping Chaos stayed and pushed him further, he needed a good fight right now.

Vincent wisely stayed quiet and motioned for Cloud to lead the way, moving to fall into step beside the enraged warrior, but also out of reach of the sword.

"This damn bird better be Sephiroth," Cloud growled out, eyes livid. "If not then me and Chaos are going to go have a lovely fight in the nearest damn mountains. I need to kill something."

Vincent wisely moved three steps further from Cloud, and shivered under his coat. Cloud could be absolutely terrifying if given half the chance.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Zack had watched in shock, unable to do anything as Cloud shoved Seph away and ran off. Seph didn't chase him, didn't do anything other than watch with visible hurt in his eyes.

"Seph?" Angeal asked, coming closer and nudging the motionless silver. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Seph whispered softly, lowering his head and trudging back over to where Genesis was still laying. "I should have known better."

Zack watched as Genesis pulled Seph closer with his wings and made the younger silver curl against him. "I didn't think that would happen, Ang."

Angeal looked over at him and sighed, nudging Zack closer to him. "I think this is more than us having been yanked from our times like you thought. I think we all died in our times and instead of joining the lifestream, like you and Genesis believe should happen when we die, we were brought here instead. I know Seph was a strong warrior at a young age, but he was alive and waiting in Midgar with Genesis for me to return when my transport was shot down."

"Being stabbed then finding himself here," Zack muttered, watching Genesis preen Seph like a chocobo would do to a younger sibling still unable to care for itself. "You think he died that night?"

"It's only logical at this point," Angeal responded. "You were dead, Seph was stabbed, I went up in flames in a transport crash, and it sounds like someone finally reached Genesis in his time or he just starved to death. Point is we were all in situations where we had to have died, and suddenly we're all waking up as Chocobos by the Marshes."

"This is so much more complex than I can handle," Zack groaned, shaking away from Angeal and moving towards Seph and Gen. "I wish Aerith was here, or that she could reach me from the lifestream. Even with the planet's vague help, she could still help understand what's happening better than I can."

Zack plopped himself down next to Seph and nuzzled into the silver feathers, and he felt Angeal settle beside him and throw a wing over them, holding them all close. This made him feel like he was back at the tower with his three best friends spending time with Seph when he had a bad week and needed his family around him.

Zack found himself chuckling suddenly, pushing himself closer to Seph.

"What's so funny, pup?" Gen asked, poking Zack's back with his beck.

"Well," Zack sighed, lifting his head to look at the three. "This just reminds me of my time when the four of us would flop onto a giant mattress in the middle of Sephiroth's room and just cuddle him when he had a bad week or month because missions kept us away when he needed us the most. We were the most dysfunctional family ever."

Angeal laughed, Gen nudged Zack's head back down, and Seph rested his head on Zack's back, a soft chuckle leaving him.

"I wish I had the same memories as you guys seem to have," Seph sighed, sounding tired and sluggish. "Maybe then I wouldn't make Gen mad at me all the time."

"I'm not mad at you dearest," Gen cooed gently. "I just remember my Seph being a smug bastard that acted like he knew everything. It was hard to keep you both apart in my mind until your childish innocence and inquiries finally overcame the battle-hardened twenty-five-year-old bastard I remember. Now rest dearest child, you must be exhausted after everything that has happened today."

Seph gave a small noise of understanding, nuzzled further into Zack's back and fell asleep quickly. Zack gave off a soft coo, shifted his head and let it rest on the ground watching the door.

"What were you two discussing before coming over here?" Genesis asked softly, shifting to preen Zack's head gently.

"You're really good at being a mother bird Genesis," Zack yawned out. A harsh tug from Gen had him awake in seconds though. "We were discussing how we got here again. Seph recognized Cloud, but according to my timeline Cloud would have been six and still very much a mama's mountain boy, unaware of Shinra and the war until he hit twelve or thirteen himself. But Angeal believes that we all died and were reborn here as Chocobos before even feeling death."

"That makes sense for the three of us but not you," Genesis responded, shifting to start preening Angeal's wing. "You were in the lifestream with your beloved Cetra, went to sleep, and then woke up as a living breathing chocobo. So the 'everyone died and came back as chocobos' doesn't apply for what is happening. It might be part of it but it's not the main cause. We also have to take into consideration that we are all different ages and all have different memories of events than others."

"Us having different memories makes sense for different people, Genesis," Angeal said. "I wouldn't remember Seph being stabbed, Seph wouldn't remember transport being shot down, and I don't remember you being in any kind of metal pillar."

"Except," Genesis said, lifting his head to look Angeal in the eyes. "No reports ever came in when we were fifteen of transports being shot down and crashing, those came closer to when we were eighteen and then only for a brief period as Shinra was quick to end the ground air cannons. In my time, all three of us were in Wutai for a year together and shared the same tent in the middle of our camp, we would have known if Seph had gotten stabbed. And in my time, you were already dead for at least five years before I had sealed myself away to prevent the mad scientist from completing his work."

"Different worlds maybe?" Zack offered. "Aerith did tell me that even if the reactors hadn't been stopped in my time, Gaia could send her children to another 'world' to be reborn and live, send her champions to save the chosen world and stop the destruction of that world. Like the multiverse theory my Seph had become obsessed with when he started reading the sci-fi novels Gen got him for his birthday one year."

"Multiverse theory," Gen repeated. "That would work. Maybe when we died Gaia sent us all to the most stable world to have a second chance at life, or to give us proper training before sending us off to other worlds to save them."

"That actually makes a lot of sense," Angeal said slowly, his face one of concentration. "What was happening in your world when you locked yourself away?"

Genesis sighed and stretched his neck out, then settled it down on the only available space of Seph's back that wasn't covered by Angeal's wing. "Last thing I remember before locking myself away? I think that would have to be catching up to Zack and his comatose trooper friend Cloud and demanding Cloud's hair to cure myself because I believed Sephiroth's cells could cure me. Zack and Cloud had both gotten out of Hojo's labs, both having undergone experiments and that madman's full attention. I believe he was trying to make them into Sephiroth clones but the experiments and treatments of S-cells didn't take to Zack like they did Cloud. The next part was a blur, but I remember fighting Zack before the Goddess Materia, losing, and being granted the cure and a second chance from the goddess herself. I woke up in an underground city-like lab and refused to work with the people down there to continue and perfect Hojo's work, crawling myself into the metal frame of one of the taller support towers and making a never-ending barrier with my own life-force. I don't remember anything after that."

"What about you Angeal?" Zack asked, cocking his head to look at Angeal and not the twilight outside the barn.

"Shinra was waging war on Wutai in an attempt to find the promised land, and losing horribly, even with three SOLDIER First's and Hojo's table turner, Sephiroth." Angeal said, lowering his head to rest on Genesis's back. "I was being called back to help Sephiroth and Genesis take control of the rioting and protesting public, demanding that Shinra pull out and leave Wutai alone, to stop the pointless death."

Zack sighed. "Looks like Shinra was still an asshole in your time as well. Well for me, after kicking Gen's ass in front of the Goddess Materia and setting him far enough away from the crumbling caves and ground, I took Cloud and continued on my way to hit Midgar, because what better way to stay hidden from your enemies then right under their nose? Well, that was the plan anyway." Zack turned his head to look back out the door. "I reached the final cliff overlooking Midgar, it was just flat land after we got down that cliff when the entire army finally caught up to me. I hid Cloud behind some rocks tall and thick enough that it wouldn't give under multiple explosions and stray bullets and met the army head-on. It took them a day and a half for them to finally plant the final killing shot. Bullet-ridden, burned from multiple grenades and more missiles than I could count, and cut up to hell and back, I knew I could die proud, die a hero. Proud that I managed to keep Cloud safe and out of the fight, a hero because I was able to protect my only friend left alive. I wasn't proud of the fact that I had killed four-fifths of Shinra's military, only that I was able to keep Cloud alive. The last thing I did alive was telling Cloud to carry on with our dreams and honor, to live for the both of us, to grow into a strong and confident man. I gave him the Buster Sword and then I guess I just died and hovered in my body a bit because I was able to watch Cloud swear he would carry on for us. When the daylight hit, my mentor, Angeal, helped me go to the lifestream, where I watched over Cloud through his journey and his life after."

"I saw him travel the world and gather a bunch of misfit allies that he formed a family with, I saw him take down Jenova, an alien parasite that wouldn't let Seph return to the lifestream and rest, I watched him kill Sephiroth for the second time, I watched him get turned into a puppet with no will and then struggle to bring himself back, watched him become stronger because of it. I watched him almost kill my girlfriend because Jenova was taking control, and when he broke free, took the moment that Cloud was too horrified with what he had almost done, to send a clone of Sephiroth down and kill her instead. I saw him break and I helped him heal and rebuild himself. I helped him when he needed help taking down Sephiroth for the third time by using Aerith's power to allow myself to be a constant presence by his side the entire fight. Gave him the extra boost in power he needed to cut through a mutated and deformed monstrous dragon running wild killing people. Gave him guidance with the Remnants, even though he never knew. I was always beside him, and Aerith was right there at my side helping him as well. We never let him stay broken or moping. We were his family, even dead, and we never left his side."

"It sounds like you and Gen might be from the same world," Angeal whispered softly after a moment, moving his head to push gently against Zack's, Gen doing the same to the other side. "What are the odds that were on your world, and Gaia is giving us all a second chance to live happy lives?"

"Sounds too good to be true," Gen scoffed gently. "Now sleep you fools. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Zack allowed himself to relax, agreeing with Genesis on this one. They would have a long day. Cloud was still probably freaked out by Seph's eyes, and until Zack found a way to explain that this Seph was an innocent baby and not the cold-blooded madman, Zack was going to have to protect him.

Sometime later, Zack was still wide awake, while the others had fallen into a deep sleep. Maybe being dead for so long meant he could stay awake longer cause he had technically woke up from a nap that spanned years.

It was this awareness that probably saved Seph's life as he felt the air turn at the doors to the barn, the quick dash, then Zack was staring into golden eyes, the alarmed and confused noises of the three behind him breaking the silence. Zack had the demon's claws in his beck, his teeth dug in and keeping the demon from pulling away.

The air turning to the side of him had Zack instinctively letting go of the demon's arms and jumping back, wings spread to protect the three behind him. What he saw before him didn't do anything to calm him down, and before he knew it, his body had shifted into a battle-ready stance.

Cloud had his sword out and between the demon and Zack, his body positioned in such a way that he could quickly take down an attack from either side. Chaos, as Zack remembered, was very much vivid and watching something over Zack's shoulder.

"Protect Seph," Zack growled out, shifting to run his claws over the ground, pleased at the sharp sound that it emitted, the sound reminding him of a well-tended blade. It had the desired effect, Chaos focused on him instead of the others.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Cloud hissed out, his sword angled more towards Chaos. "I said you were to confirm if it was Sephiroth or not, nothing about attacking them."

"It is Sephiroth," Chaos growled out, tail whipping out to try and hit Zack, only to be deflected by Cloud's blade. "And the birds need to die. They do not belong to the world."

"Multiverse theory was correct then," Zack heard Angeal mutter softly from behind him.

"Stand down Chaos," Cloud said, finally moving to stand facing the demon between him and Zack. "You forget Gaia is fucking crazy enough as it is. Four out of place chocobos won't change the world drastically." Cloud stated.

Zack and Chaos both deadpanned at the same time, "One of them is Sephiroth, and Sephiroth is enough of a factor to change the world."

Cloud, for rolling with crazy shit, just glanced back at Zack then focused back on Chaos. "If Sephiroth goes stir crazy and tries to destroy the planet again then I'll stop him. Stopping a chocobo version of Sephiroth shouldn't be harder than fighting a near-immortal man with a sword as long as I am tall."

"Masamune isn't that long," Seph whined from behind Zack. "It probably just goes up to his chin if you put the tip on the ground."

This time both Cloud and Chaos turned their heads to look at the silver chocobo peaking over the other three to see what was going on.

"Did you just talk?" Cloud asked, looking straight at Seph.

"Uhh," Seph began. "No?" Then ducked back down to the protective covering Angeal and Genesis had created for him with their own bodies.

"I think he just said no," Chaos deadpanned, tilting his head and humming. "Fine. I won't kill the birds for now. It is clear they are under your protection, but the second they cause the planet harm, I will be there to end them all." And with a very dramatic spin, Chaos stalked out of the barn and into the night.

"Great," Cloud muttered, putting his sword back into its harness. "Now I have to deal with Chaos' melodramatic self. As if Vincent wasn't enough."

"Pot calling the kettle black much?" Zack groaned out, finally allowing himself to relax and look over at the other three. "I think the coast is clear for now guys. But just to be safe, Seph don't go too far from me, kay?"

"Umm," Seph started, looking over Zack's shoulder. "I think Mr. Cloud is about to have another panic attack."

Zack looked back over to Cloud, who did indeed look like he was about to storm out of the barn, get on Fenrir, and ride until he forgot them all or crashed and died.

"I know what you're thinking and no," Zack stated, before marching over to Cloud and shoving him closer to the other three. "If you're really able to understand us then put the sword on the ground, sit down, and listen. If you don't I'll follow you and make you come back here."

Cloud blinked, looked at Zack like he had lost his mind, but still unstrapped his sword and placed it against the wall, then went and sat at the edge of the nest he had made for them to sleep on. "Okay, I'm sitting. What next?"

Zack just blinked and cocked his head in thought. "I guess we start with introductions, move to snuggles, and then I can fill you in on everything I know so far."

"Oh please," came the haughty and irritated response from Genesis. "Like you could remember everything we had discussed. You were given the nickname puppy for a reason."

"Hey!"

"Move further into the nest," Genesis cooed, tugging on Cloud's shirt. "That's where Zack lies."

"Going to groom Cloud the same way you did us, Genesis?" Angeal chuckled, but also pulled on Cloud's shirt.

Zack laughed and pushed Cloud from the front. "Only cause you put it in his head Angeal."

Eventually, they got Cloud to sit in the middle of the nest, where Genesis did in fact lay behind him and start preening Cloud's hair. Seph took a chance and laid against Cloud's left side so his head rested in Cloud's lap, and let out a soft coo as Cloud started running his hand through the feathers. Zack took the front of Cloud, mostly so he could ensure Cloud didn't bolt, but also in case Chaos didn't keep his word and came back to try and kill them again. Angeal settled on Cloud's right side, his head falling to rest on Genesis' back.

When everyone had settled, Cloud sighed and let himself lean into Genesis. "Talk before I think I'm losing my mind again."

"Hello Cloud," Zack began, turning to look back at his best friend. "So going from the back to the front, we have our beloved red chocobo, Genesis Rhapsodos, around age thirty-three, then our innocent silver chocobo, Sephiroth, age twelve. The black to your right is Angeal Hewley, age fifteen, and finally me, Zack Fair, age… Death age or what I would be if I was still alive Gen?"

"If you lived through the army age," Gen responded, nuzzling his head and resting it on Seph's back. "Since you clearly know how long I kept myself in stasis. Thirty-three. I'm so old."

"Hush you," Zack chuckled. "Anyway, I guess I would be around twenty-six about now. Time is weird in the lifestream."

"Chaos said you guys didn't belong here," Cloud spoke up, watching Zack. "Do you know where you're from?"

"Nope," Zack said cheerfully. "At this point in time we have established that we are all from different worlds, though me and Gen might be from the same world, so far everything we remember happening has happened in the same timeline as the other. That and we both remember the hell show that was Banora with the same events, and events happening at the same time."

"Though one thing we have confirmed is that in all our world, Shinra is provoking nations and starting wars for the promised land," Genesis added. "Let's not forget that."

"But Shinra didn't start a war on my world," Sephiroth said softly from Cloud's lap. "President Strife only sent troops to war if other armies came to attack us or our allies."

Everyone froze and looked down at the silver chocobo, each one in various levels of shock. Zack thought that Seph had fallen asleep, and it was clear the others had thought so as well. Actually, for a twelve-year-old, Seph was spending more time sleeping than awake.

"President Strife?" Cloud asked quietly. "Not President Shinra?"

Sephiroth lifted his head and looked up at Cloud. "From what I gathered while at the tower before heading off to stop a madman from creating an army of soldiers stronger then, well SOLDIER, two years before Hojo introduced me to the Shinra Board, a strong mercenary came and upset the balance of the entire company. He gave proof that the Promised Land was the place you go when you die and no living person could ever reach it, that starting a war with Wutai would cause more pain and loss than just letting the idea go. He was a genius, working with the board members to make more efficient methods to producing energy without the use of Mako, proved that a lot of the department heads were embezzling money and they were fired, with people the mercenary trusted taking their places until the only members of the board left that hadn't been removed were Rufus Shinra, Reeve Tuseti, and Hojo."

"The man stressed that Hojo was not to be informed about any of the changes being made in the tower, that no one alerted Hojo to what was happening," Seph continued. "He said he knew about a child that had been born into the science department as an experiment, that the science department head could disappear better then the Turks and never be found again if he didn't want to be found. He stressed that Hojo should be allowed to continue his work until all his labs, known and unknown, could be found and shut down if the head ran. Because of his work and his plans, the old president stepped down and let the mercenary run the company, giving the mercenary his best wishes and then retiring out to one of his homes to watch the world around him change. People say he was evicted at sword point and that the mercenary told him to leave the company to him peacefully or die, but I don't believe President Strife could ever act like that. He was always so nice to me. When Hojo introduced me to the new board, President Strife told Hojo that he was fired, that all his labs were being shut down and all his experiments canceled."

"I had never seen Hojo so mad before," Seph continued, laying his head back down. "He looked like he would burst a blood vessel. But the president wasn't done yet. He wasn't going to let Hojo walk away like the others did, no. Hojo was going to be exposed for everything he had done, from illegal human experimentation to sending false death messages back to families that he had taken members from. Everyone found alive were put into hospitals and schools to help control the nightmares and anything Hojo had done to them, to teach them how to interact with the outside world again, and to stress that they were not monsters. President Strife took time from his busy schedule to go and see all the classes himself, to talk to everyone, and to go and see those in the hospital that were having a hard time adjusting to their bodies. He also took me in and helped me learn how to interact with others. He introduced me to Angeal and Genesis when we went to war to stop another mad professor from trying to take over the world. He was also just a teenager, barely even thirteen himself at the time he was leading us to swiftly end the budding army and the mad scientist."

"So I ruled the world in Seph's time," Cloud said after several long minutes. "Who would have thought."

"You didn't just rule it," Seph said again. "You were the world's God. The Untouchable Golden One, and depending on who you asked you were given so many different titles, but everyone in Shinra called you the God of Everything. Nothing touched the Golden God, and if you hurt someone he loved, nothing was left of you when he was done with you."

Somehow Zack realized he could see that, see Cloud as a God and a Ruler. It sounded like Cloud, the harshness that lets him get the job done, the gentleness to get people to follow him, the kindness that got people to trust him and strive to live up to the expectations Cloud had, even if he told you to not try to reach the bar if it was too hard, you still had all your life ahead of you, and that cold-blooded murderer that mutilated and destroyed anything that hurt his family.

"If President Strife took you in," Genesis started. "And he would destroy all who hurt his family, then isn't it possible that he saw you as part of his family and to find you dead or gone, he would tear the world apart to find you again? To have you back with him?"

"I highly doubt that I wouldn't burn the world to ashes if a member of my family was taken from me and I couldn't bring them back," Cloud spoke, rage simmering in his eyes but his voice deadpan. "But world experience would quell that urge. As a teenager, it is highly likely that if I saw you as part of my family and I found you missing, I would rip the world apart to find you, even start ripping into the Lifestream if needed to."

Suddenly, Zack had a very bad feeling about the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you hate it when your spell check keeps telling you Angeal is wrong and keeps telling you to change it to Angel, but Angeal's is fine and doesn't need to be changed? And I get that Chocobo is the name of the race, but do we really have to capitalize it every time we write it? Like that also gets on my nerves, as I am constantly told chocobo is wrong and needs to be changed to Chocobo. Let me write how I wanna write stupid spell checks and auto corrects!
> 
> Also, Zack is now wrong as well and should be changed to Zavk or Bavk. Annoying.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't be afraid to comment and share your thoughts okay? I love reading them and when I get a free moment I always respond. Love you all!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aerith brings Cloud and Seph into her 'world' to talk. Zack, Genesis, Angeal, and Tifa head to the mountain range around the Marshes to see what the three chocobos can do in their new bodies. Things happen that are both good and bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot what Black Chocobos could do in FFVII so I looked it up. Didn't realize when looking it up you had to specify which Final Fantasy you want or you would get everything but what you wanted. I started this story with the info needed, Blacks are able to climb mountains and cross rivers, silvers able to do everything but fly, and reds strong magic users able to cross the easier terrain or mountain paths or rivers, like the places that you don't need a chocobo to pass but it makes it easier to pass. So looking it up again after losing my notes, I was really confused because the page I got for Black Chocobos said that they have a few advantages over yellows, but the only real reason you would use a black over a yellow was because they could fly over rivers instead of having to swim across or run over a bridge. I mean maybe in the older games sure, but that wasn't what i got for FFVII so I had to spend 30 solid minutes finding the info for Blacks again, realized how specific I had to be for my search engine, and then bookmarked the page because I am not losing that info or page again and I need to make a doc on my google drive on my phone that has all my info on it because I'm sick of my family deciding to throw everything I leave out for more than an hour away because clearly I'm not using it anymore and I won't need it again at all, for any reason. Even when I have the words IMPORTANT! DO NOT THROW AWAY! written on the front in clear view.

**Chapter 4**

Cloud knew even before he opened his eyes that he was no longer sleeping in the nest with the four chocobo SOLDIER Firsts curled around him. One reason he knew was because he felt a peace he only got when he was floating in the in-between with Aerith. The other reason was the fact that Cloud only felt one chocobo with him, instead of all four. The other was that Bill didn't have flower meadows as far as the eye could see anywhere near his home, and the smell of fresh flowers and rain was only found in Aerith's church and her in-between world.

"Cloud?" Came Aerith's gentle voice, laced with confusion.

Cloud hummed and opened his eyes to look up at her, her eyes still that captivating green that they had always been. "Hello, Aerith. To what do I owe this meeting?"

Aerith frowned and then shook her head, a smile finally appearing in her features. "Your visit wasn't supposed to happen, but you'll do."

Somewhere in Cloud's mind, a small voice was stating that he should be hurt by Aerith dismissing him as second best, but he didn't listen. "Sorry. How can I help?"

Aerith plopped beside him, leaned over him and started petting the silver chocobo sleeping beside him. "I meant to grab Zack but he was already awake and active by the time I finally got through to Gaia that we needed to explain what was happening to one of our champions. As my second choice I snatched you up before you could wake, and I brought the silver chocobo along by accident. Do you know his name?"

Cloud tilted his head closer to the silver still sleeping beside him, his eyes watching Aerith for any reaction at all to what came from his mouth next.

"Sephiroth."

Aerith stilled, her eyes growing wider, her hand ripping back as if she was burned. Her voice trembled. "Impossible, I personally saw to it with Zack that we finally put Sephiroth to rest in the lifestream for good. He can't be here."

"How much do you know about what's happening on Gaia's surface right now, Aerith?" Cloud asked, sitting up carefully, making sure Seph's head and body were always touching him, no need to find out if Seph would get lost on this plane of existence if they stopped touching. It had happened before when Sephiroth had dragged him into the lifestream with him after beating him in the Northern Crater. The only reason Cloud was still alive was that he had managed to break Sephiroth's grip on him long enough to reach the surface of the mako river they had fallen into and hiked himself out before Seph could drag him back down into the lifestream to die with him.

He still wasn't used to the concept of falling into a mako river and landing in the lifestream, then breaking free and exiting from another mako laced water source. Though apparently that only happened to him and Sephiroth so huzzah.

His mind quickly snapped back to attention as Aerith started speaking.

"Two days ago I felt pain, like my connection with Gaia was being severed, like I was being pulled away from her," Aerith began, turning to look down at the flowers and started to tend to them, never leaving her spot next to Cloud. "Zack noticed instantly, and being the hero he is, managed to drag me here to the flowers, here where Gaia could lock me here with her. Zack hadn't been attacked and offered to travel the lifestream to find where the attack had come from, to see if Jenova was still fighting somewhere, and Gaia let him. Yesterday I felt the screams from the lifestream ring through the air, felt my connection with Zack get torn apart and broken, only to be reformed as a connection to someone alive and no longer in the lifestream."

"By the time me and Gaia had made a safe connection for me to see what was happening on the surface, I focused on finding Zack, to try and get him to talk to me, to see if he remembered what had happened to him. But all I kept zooming in on was four chocobos, a silver, red, and two blacks. After watching the smaller black for a bit, I finally figured out that the chocobo was Zack, the fact that he was hopping and poking at your picture at Bill's place just solidified that. He was talking to the other three, leading them, and when I saw them fight I knew they weren't normal either. By the time we had managed to make a connection to bring Zack here to talk, or for me to exert my presence to you or Zack, I turned back around to see you defending them from Chaos."

"I don't know who the other two are," Aerith continued, looking back at Cloud then down to the silver head in his lap. "All I know is Gaia is scared by something stronger than Jenova. Something that appeared right before Zack and the others did as chocobos."

"Stronger than Jenova?" Cloud asked, watching Aerith. "What is stronger than Jenova, since both you and Zack have both confirmed you guys put Sephiroth to rest in the lifestream."

"Who's Jenova?" Came the soft question from Cloud's lap.

"An evil parasite that you don't have to worry about, Seph," Cloud responded, looking down at the wide curious green eyes watching him. "Don't worry. I'll make sure everything is okay. Trust me."

Seph smiled the best he could, his eyes gleaming with happiness. "I trust you, Mr. Cloud! You're big brother Zack's best friend after all!"

Cloud lightly smiled back, then turned his gaze to Aerith's curious and warry one.

"Who is he really Cloud?" Aerith asked, her voice sharp but scared. "Sephiroth knows who Jenova is. Sephiroth is a cold-blooded killer. He's not close enough or human enough to even consider seeing Zack as a friend. Which is why we had to struggle to make him rest and just fade away."

Cloud didn't have to look down to know Seph's eyes had gotten larger as Aerith kept talking. He could feel the pain and fear rolling off the young chocobo.

"Aerith," Cloud stated, his voice cold and serious. He loved Aerith with all his heart, but she was still reeling from being attacked and not having any support with her, and she was letting her fear get the better of her. "This is Sephiroth. He is not our Sephiroth. He is a young boy who the others are thinking were killed and brought here for a second chance or to learn to be a weapon for something else. He is twelve years old and he has learned that being curious and asking questions isn't bad, that he doesn't have to act like he knows everything, and to let people in and trust them. He is from another Gaia, one where me and a group of people took over Shinra by showing proof of everything people were spreading rumors about while Shinra was in charge. I apparently took over and claimed the place of President on that world and I had made changes that changed that world forever."

Aerith looked at Cloud, then back at Seph, her eyes showing how much she wanted to believe him, but how scared she was that it was actually their Sephiroth and not one raised under his hand. Cloud knew when she decided to trust him, it was the second she caught sight of the green cat-like eyes looking up at him with adoration and trust, eyes so innocent that they hadn't seen war and death like the Sephiroth they had chased had. Eyes so innocent that they couldn't belong to a homicidal madman.

"And the other two?"

"The other black is Angeal Hewley, who is also from another world, but not the same one as Seph," Cloud said, voice softer, his arm moving to pull Aerith closer to him, to give her a one-armed hug, like Zack had loved to do. "And the red is Genesis Rhapsodos, who believes him and Zack are both from the same world, our world."

Cloud softened his voice further as he felt Aerith relaxing against him completely, her hand going back to petting the silver head in his lap. Which Cloud realized in any other situation would equate to Aerith cheating on Zack with him.

"Don't let Zack catch us," Cloud said completely seriously, glancing over at Aerith. "He would get jealous you're petting the head in my lap instead of him."

Everything was silent for a moment as Aerith looked at him in confusion, trying to make sense of what was just deadpanned to her face. Seph, for his young age, started snickering, then nuzzled himself closer to Cloud.

"I think I like being the head of your jokes," Seph cooed, eyes watching Aerith with an amused gleam while relaxing with his head against Cloud's stomach.

Cloud saw the moment Aerith connected the dots, and he lost it laughing as she turned bright red and started stuttering. He just pulled her closer and placed his hand on Seph's neck.

"You turned a poor boy into a dirty joke," Aerith accused hotly. "How much have you done to turn the child into the gutters like you?"

"Honestly," Cloud gasped out, trying to catch his breath. "I didn't know he would get that. Tried to make a joke that would go over his head, ya know?"

Aerith shook her head and sighed. "Tell me as much as you know about what is going on, on the surface. I need to know what we're working with."

So Cloud told her everything he knew, from when Bill called him to falling asleep in the barn with the birds, and Seph filled in details from when the four of them had awoken as chocobos to when they had fallen asleep after Cloud, telling everything as precisely as possible. By the time they were both finished telling Aerith everything they knew, Cloud felt himself getting tired and he knew his time was getting close to an end.

"Thank you for telling me," Aerith chimed from somewhere next to him, his eyes couldn't stay open. "I'll try to figure more out for you all. I'm sorry you couldn't stay longer. Stay safe Cloud!"

Cloud didn't get a chance to answer as everything turned dark and he jolted awake with Seph in the nest, just inches from slamming his head into Cid's head.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Zack, for all intents and purposes, felt anxious about leaving Seph alone, even if it was with Spike. He knew they had to get used to fighting as chocobos until they found a way to transform back into humans, because no matter how awesome he looked as a chocobo, it just didn't lend itself to having a relationship with Aerith if he died and stayed a chocobo. That and he had to know what he could do, along with what Angeal and Genesis could do.

Zack had convinced Tifa to take the three of them to the land between Bill's farm and the Marshes where monsters roamed, weak ones cause they weren't used to what they could do yet and didn't want to risk massive harm. That had been a headache and a half as Zack tried to communicate with her, cursing whatever it was that let Cloud and Chaos understand him but not Tifa. Well, that was until Tifa's eyes glazed slightly, then sharpened with focus and then just rolled with the fact that the black chocobo before her was talking to her and making a request.

It had been fun at first, going around and fighting monsters, letting himself slip into the instincts that had been letting him roam as a chocobo since he woke up. He had always gone by instinct after he started exploring as a child in Gongaga, even got in trouble with the commanders and teachers in Shinra because he listened more to gut and instinct about things than actual commands, which almost always ended up saving his life and that of those who listened to him. When he made SOLDIER and had Angeal as his mentor, he started using his head more, but if his gut disagreed with his head, he would always listen to his gut instincts. It was how he stayed alive, even if it was always close calls, even if it got him called the definition of not using your brain.

After a while they had moved to the mountain paths that surrounded the swamp, Zack knew what he was capable of and was spotting monsters with Tifa for the other two. He had noticed Tifa kept glancing over at the Marshes when they could see it, as if she was waiting for something, or looking for something. The only thing he could think of that would be dangerous for them in the Marshes was the Midgar Zolom, and that thing never left the swamp. That and Seph had killed it when he came back to stalk and court Cloud in that weird Jenova inspired way of his.

Say what you will about Sephiroth, but you will never change Zack's mind about Seph coming back just to make havok so he could get the man he wanted to follow him and spend every second thinking of him. Sorry Gaia, when a man is in love he usually does stupid things, and when a madman is in love, he does absolutely insane and world damaging things.

Zack, who had been glancing towards the swamp when Tifa wasn't looking at it, was the first to see the tip of what looked like a snake tail disappear behind a rocky outcrop. A large snake tail.

"Tifa," Zack called softly. "Is there something I should know about before we get much farther?"

Tifa glanced back at him, then looked back ahead at where Genesis and Angeal were fighting one of the various enemies they had found. "Cloud said to be careful when around this area. That sometimes things will sneak up on you, things stronger then what we can handle alone. Of course, Cloud doesn't accurately judge our strength when we spar with him, but when he goes out of his way to alert us, we listen."

Zack nodded his head and hummed. They went on for a while longer, Zack listening for any sounds that would give away the monster's position behind them, but he heard and saw nothing after that point. He never dropped his guard though, he knew anything could be around, just lying in wait for an unsuspecting victim. He had almost been that unsuspecting victim multiple times when he listened to orders instead of his gut.

This is probably why Zack insisted he take point with Tifa at the back even though he didn't know the area. And arguably when the Midgar Zolom lunged out from behind the rock it was hiding behind, Tifa had all rights to blame him, but even she knew they were taking the same path down that they had up. Zack was just more prepared for the attack than the others.

Though being prepared for it didn't save his body from being flung to the side and smashed into the giant outcrops of rocks on the opposite side of the path. It just made the impact hurt a lot more since he tensed trying to stop it.

When Zack's head stopped ringing and his vision cleared up enough for him to see, he had to do a double-take. Tifa was standing before Genesis and Angeal, half her body in the Midgar Zolom's mouth, but it wasn't moving. It looked like time had slowed down, as he saw the very slow shift of the zolom preparing to close his jaw. Then he heard the crack, a sound almost as if the world itself had ripped itself apart.

And rip itself apart it had, as the entire path under the Midgar Zolom had torn open to show the flowing green stream that ran under everything. Zack watched in awe as both Tifa and the Zolom fell into the sudden ravine, and time returned to normal.

Before Gen and Angeal could even comprehend what had happened, Zack was leaping into the ravine and speed diving towards where Tifa had landed on one of the few rocky ledges just big enough to hold a person laying down. The only reason he hadn't crushed her was his alarmed kwek and his furious wing beats getting her to jump to her feet and press herself as close to the wall as she could. The Midgar Zolom was nowhere to be seen.

"ZACK!" Came the worried cries from above.

"I'm fine!" Zack called back up, moving to look over Tifa. "Are you okay, Teef?"

Tifa nodded her head, her eyes wide open in shock and glancing frantically around the area looking for any sign of danger. Zack didn't blame her, he didn't know what had caused the ravine to rip open as it had, and Tifa could have very well died by the fall.

"Climb on my back," Zack cooed, pushing his head against her carefully, letting her ground herself with his touch. "I'll get us out of here okay?"

Tifa nodded again, eased herself onto Zack's back, and held on tightly, like she had ridden bareback before. Zack reached around to nuzzle her with his head, before he made like the black chocobo he was and went to work climbing out of the ravine the best he could, though if Genesis and Angeal hadn't reached in to grab his wings both and Tifa would have fallen down the ravine, on a side with no landing spots except for the green swirls below.

Tifa looked shaken, her body was shaking, and Genesis and Angeal had fear in their eyes. Zack couldn't blame them, they had seen them both almost die, would have seen them die if the other two were just a tad bit slower. Zack could admit that his heart had started racing at the end there when the ground crumbled under him, but his gut told him to trust that he would be fine.

"Let's go, guys," Zack said, his voice worn and shaking. "I think it's best that we all get back to the farm."

Everyone nodded, Tifa gripping tighter to Zack, but no one said a word. Zack wordlessly guided them all back down the mountain and back to Bill's farm, using his memories and his instincts to get them back without another monster attack. They didn't need it at this time. The pleasure outing was over on that mountain path, and Zack was ready to give Tifa back to her friends and give her time to recover.

Which is exactly what Zack did when Cloud ran up to them as they approached the farm. Cloud could take care of Tifa, Zack had the new members of his family to take care of. He silently nudged Tifa off into Cloud's arms, nuzzled Cloud's head, pushed his head against Tifa's back lightly, and walked off into the barn where Seph was standing in the door.

"Zack?" Seph asked.

"Not now kiddo. I'll explain later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter is shorter than the others. But I promise the next chapter will have much more on the SOLDIER's situation, on how everything that is happening is all connected. I don't feel bad for saying they are all connected, because you could probably see that's what the five of them already believe, they just don't know how. And how everything is connected is going to throw your view of this story into the ultimate test!
> 
> As always, I hope you guys enjoyed and let me know how I'm doing with the chapters. If they feel like they are losing quality or interest don't hesitate to say so! I love feedback and if the story is losing you I want to know why so I can work on making it an even better reading experience for everyone!
> 
> Love you all!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zack, Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth find themselves in a strange place with a familiar face. But things start taking a turn for the worst. Nightmares come to life and haunt the poor silver-haired baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed to make this after it was posted because I forgot to put this up here, though I was half asleep when I posted this so I blame my tired mind for thinking it was already here!
> 
> There is vague sexual assault against a child mentioned at the beginning of Seph's part towards the end of the chapter. Please understand that I do not approve of sexual assault period, and if you are going to be triggered by this please just skip over until Seph starts talking about Zack saving him. It is again mentioned closer to the end in the mirage they were seeing.
> 
> If this will trigger you then please, skip over those few lines and continue reading, or just leave the story entirely. I promise, only this chapter and the next will have these themes in it, as Cloud and his family and friends are going to do everything necessary to make sure Seph never thinks about these things again and never has to worry about it again. He will still suffer from the effects of it though out the story, but he will not mention it in his parts again, or will vaguely make an off-handed comment about physical affection and things that remind people about his fucked up childhood.
> 
> Thank you for your time. Enjoy the story.

**Chapter 5**

Sephiroth frowned as he looked into the barn after Zack, Genesis, and Angeal. He didn't know what had happened to cause them all to look so defeated. But Zack had said later, so Seph knew he had to wait, so he sighed and started to follow them.

_'Sephiroth.'_

Sephiroth spun around quickly, his eyes scanning for the voice that called his name. He saw no one.

_'My dearest Sephiroth.'_

"Who's there?" Sephiroth asked softly, his green eyes scanning for even the slightest movements.

_'My beloved Sephiroth.'_

"Who are you?" Sephiroth asked again, slightly louder. Something turned his gaze towards the north. The air shimmered slightly in the distance as if something was breathing in the extremely cold weather of the Northern Continent.

_'My delicate salvation.'_

Sephiroth turned away from the distorted haze quickly. His gut told him it wasn't normal, that the voice it seemed to emit was not to be trusted or listened to. Something also told Sephiroth that the distortion in the air could only be seen by him, that if he told anyone about it he would be mistrusted and maybe killed. That woman Mr. Cloud called Aerith didn't trust him, if he gave the others a reason, they wouldn't trust him either.

It took a long while for sleep to find Seph that night while curled up with his new family in the barn. It was only through sheer willpower that he was able to block out the voice that was slowly getting louder and louder in his head. And even when sleep found him, Seph found himself having nightmare after nightmare after nightmare, each one a vivid reminder of the lie he had told them all, to make them not fear him, to not throw him away like everyone else but President Strife had.

The hazy distortion unseen and undetected as it covered the four sleeping chocobos.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Zack knew something was wrong as soon as he opened his eyes. For starters, he had fallen asleep as a black mako enhanced chocobo in a barn on Bill's farm for the last time before Cloud took them to his farm. Where Zack woke up, he was standing on human legs with human arms and the Buster sword on his very human back.

"Let me go!"

Zack's head snapped to attention, he knew that voice, the soft child-like edge to the voice that had captured his heart on the first day.

"Sephiroth?!" Zack called out, then blinked as he realized he wasn't the only one to call for the silver-haired boy.

Though he was the first to break out of the confusion.

"We have to go find Seph!" Zack called out. "If you can't see each other, assume we can communicate through this place without having to be close. I don't care how big this place is, we search for him until we find our missing member!"

"Yessir!" Angeal's and Genesis' voices rang out. Zack could feel through where he was that the others had started moving the same time as him.

Zack couldn't see anything until he almost ran into a door that had appeared before his eyes. Zack slid to a stop, but he wasn't fast enough and ended up slamming through the door and into the brightly lit lab behind it.

Zack had to actually stop and stare for at least a solid minute as he came to terms with what he was seeing.

Sitting at a desk before him was a black silhouette of a man who was going over picture after picture of a young body's internal organs and external wounds. Dread started forming in Zack's gut, his mind ran laps around itself trying to explain this away in any way but what he feared it was.

"Sephiroth is growing and healing exponentially faster than I ever could have thought!" The sick and twisted but also cold voice rang out from behind Zack. He knew the owner without turning around. "So young but still so much better than I could have ever hoped!"

"Hojo, this is going too far!" Came another voice from behind him, one Zack didn't recognize. Still, Zack couldn't tear his eyes away from the man who was slowly taking on more physical appearances than the black silhouette he once was.

"It's not far enough! He needs to be better! His mother demands better!"

"His mother is dead, Hojo! You killed her with this reckless behavior of yours!"

"His mother is Jenova, the last pure Ancient on Gaia! You think you have any right to tell me how to make her son better?! How to mold him into the perfect weapon for his mother to use?!"

"He isn't a weapon!"

Zack flinched as the gunshot rang out, but his gaze stayed locked on the young silver-haired boy that couldn't have reached higher then his stomach looking up to him, his cat-like green eyes filled with fear.

"The boy may not have been born from Jenova's body, but she is his true mother. And as his mother, she has the last say about what happens to him. She wants her perfect son to be the perfect weapon."

Zack didn't realize the lab had faded around him until he felt Seph collapse into his stomach, trembling with fear.

"Was I really born to just be a weapon?" came the soft and terrified voice from the small body clinging to him.

"No," Zack said firmly, his hand moving to pull Seph away so he could crouch and pick up the terrified boy. "You are so much more than what Hojo wanted from you. You are human. You are kind and loving. You will never be the perfect weapon Hojo wanted from you."

"What about my mother though?" Seph asked, curling into Zack's shoulder, his small hands clinging to Zack's shirt. "Why would she want to see me as a weapon? Doesn't she love me?"

"Your mother loves you a lot, Seph," Zack whispered softly, his hand moving to stroke through Seph's hair calmingly. "She never wanted this from you, she never wanted you to be a part of this period. Jenova isn't your mother Seph. A wonderful woman who was thrown out of your life as soon as you were born was. Hojo killed her when she tried to stop him from experimenting on you. She couldn't though, and he shot and killed her."

Seph curled closer to him sobbing in his arms.

Zack held him tighter, not risking letting the little boy out of his arms. He saw another door and he approached it slowly, ready to ease all of Seph's fears and worries in this dream world that Seph had pulled them all into.

 ** _'MY DEAREST SEPHIROTH!'_** Came the sudden booming voice as soon as Zack touched the handle to the door. **_'YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE ME AGAIN!'_**

"Zack!" Seph shouted, his head looking behind Zack, his hands gripping tighter to his shirt.

Zack didn't hesitate to throw the door open and run inside, then leap over a ravine that was suddenly in his path.

 ** _'MY DEAREST BELOVED SEPHIROTH! YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE ME!'_** The voice boomed again, and Zack didn't stop running. He didn't recognize the land he was running through, but Zack would be damned to let whatever that thing was get close enough to hurt his little brother!

"Zack over here!"

Zack didn't stop running or slow down, no he ran faster. Angeal and Genesis were inside a door in a cliffside. He would have to jump to make it to the edge of the door, pulling him in would be Angeal and Genesis' job.

"Quicker Zack!" Genesis shouted, firing his strongest fire magic at something that was right behind Zack.

Seph screamed and curled himself closer to Zack, his grip as strong as all the muscles in his little body would allow. Zack didn't let it affect him. He used his momentum to send himself flying up and forward as he jumped, the one arm not holding Seph close to him flung out to grab Angeal's outstretched hand. The next fire hit right next to Zack's legs, just as Angeal dragged him into the doorway and out of harm's way. Genesis slammed the door shut, and before their very eyes, the doorway disappeared into nothing.

The three stared at the place the door used to be, then Genesis and Angeal threw themselves towards Zack to pull them both into a tight hug, both letting out sighs of relief.

"Don't scare us like that again, Seph," Angeal sighed out, placing a kiss to Seph's head. "You had us terrified."

Genesis sighed and pulled Seph and Zack closer to him. "When I saw that thing behind you guys I almost feared that we would lose you both. I'm so glad you're both okay."

Zack let all of them relax and just hold each other for a few more moments before he started looking around the room. It looked like the president's office at Shinra Tower, except it looked a lot more open and inviting. What used to be walls lined with photos or a table or two, was now mounted bookcases with plush navy blue chairs placed periodically before them in circles to make a little library-like spot. The large desk was still the same, but it had two more navy blue chairs sitting before it, with a beautiful black leather spinning chair that looked as simple as one could get without sacrificing comfort. Closer to the windows overlooking Midgar was what caught Zack's eyes the most and made him gasp and make everyone look over at the scene before them.

Sitting in on a large white sofa was Cloud and Seph, both looking very much like the young boys they were, except Cloud was wearing suit pants, the matching suit jacket laying in a heap on the ground, his hands running up and down Seph's almost naked body. In fact, the only thing Seph had on for clothing was his plain black boxers.

"What the hell?" Angeal whispered, his grip on the young silver-haired boy in his arms tightening.

"I don't remember this," Seph whispered, his voice so soft the other three almost didn't hear him. "Why don't I remember this?"

Zack stood up slowly, then motioned for the others to stand when the two on the sofa didn't react to him. "Why don't we find out just what exactly is going on then, shall we?"

The others nodded, and as a group, they walked right on over to the two on the sofa, except they didn't seem to realize they weren't alone anymore. As they got closer they could see everything in better detail about the boys on the sofa. Zack almost ran over to check the Seph on the sofa himself when they got close enough to see Seph's chest, arms, and legs completely covered in bandages.

"You stupid boy," came the gentle and loving voice from the Cloud on the sofa. "You shouldn't let them bully you and force you into things. You are so much stronger and better than those disgraceful bugs."

Zack felt himself pale, felt Seph cling to his hand and push against his side, and he felt fear. Pure unfiltered fear ran through him as the Cloud on the sofa slowly turned his head and looked right at Zack, making eye contact and holding it.

"Such bugs don't deserve your love," the thing that looked like Cloud said. Because Zack would never believe that Cloud, in any life, would ever have eyes that burned like fire with a voice so sweet and commanding it made even insults sound kind. "You both deserve so much more than the bugs that flock to your light. The bugs that take and take and take from you and never return anything."

Zack couldn't bring himself to look away from the thing on the sofa, he felt like his body was under some kind of control because he didn't even realize he had started moving towards the outstretched hand that the creature had outstretched for him and Seph to take.

Zack snapped out of the daze quickly though when Angeal grabbed his shoulder and dragged him back so he couldn't see the thing on the sofa, Seph being shoved in his arms a second later by Genesis.

"Who the hell are you?!" Genesis growled, his rapier out, ready to attack. "What the hell did you do to them?!"

"Insignificant bugs," Came the cold voice, the thing clearly dropping the act since its targets were no longer in its reach. "You have no right to talk back to those superior to you."

Suddenly, Angeal and Genesis were flung backwards so hard that they smashed into the wall almost thirty feet behind Zack, and by the sound of the crash, they had either smashed the wall to dust or bones had been broken. But Zack didn't have the chance to even blink before those unnaturally glowing sky blue eyes were trained back on him.

"Zack look away please!" Seph cried out, trying to force Zack's head and eyes to look away from the now fully clothed Cloud look alike.

It should have worked since Seph was stronger than him, but as Zack felt his control slipping again, he found Seph couldn't shift his head away, Seph was weaker than him.

"Such bugs don't deserve your love," the blonde man repeated, sitting back down on the sofa after straightening his clothes. "They never have and they never will."

Zack couldn't look away, he knew he had to, he had to break eye contact, had to break the control being cast over him. He had to check on his friends.

Zack had to-

The feeling of belonging, of peace, settled in over his body. As all his thoughts vanished and he felt himself drift off into his mind, the last thing he saw was the pleased expression that took over Cloud's features, his ears not hearing Seph cry out for him to fight the control, and didn't hear Genesis or Angeal shout out for him. No, the last thing he heard was the Cloud before him.

"Welcome home, my handsome hero."

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Sephiroth knew as soon as he had woken from his nightmares to find himself sitting in the president's clean and tidy office, that something was horribly wrong. This office hadn't existed since before the war had started on his world, and the last time he was in this place was when his president had told him he was destined for greatness and how he would soon be forced to prove his fighting prowess in actual battle if negotiations and peace talks fell through with forces coming from the southeast.

Sephiroth could also tell that something was wrong because unlike all his other dreams of this place, President Cloud never had a solid white sofa before the windows with two black end tables on either end and if he ever did, they were never long enough to hold him laying down three times in length and width. It was still a sofa though, it wasn't built like a bed, even though it really could have been.

It was his president though that made Sephiroth really understand that this wasn't a dream or a memory, because his president had never liked wearing suits and he never had eyes that glowed as they did now. But he knew as he made eye contact with the man who was sitting behind his desk and he felt his body start to relax and fall under his president's control, that this was real, what was happening in this room was real, and that was enough for him to turn around, break the hold, and bolt for the door.

He had forgotten that his president had always been faster than him, and before he touched the door handle, Seph found himself pinned to the floor looking up at his amused president.

"Now Seph," he purred, his voice filled with so much Sephiroth didn't even want to identify, but lust was definitely one of them. "You know how I feel about you running away from me after I've summoned you."

Sephiroth said nothing, but he did slam his eyes closed. He wasn't about to fall under this man's control, not when he knew better. Closing his eyes did more harm than good though, as soon he felt as his president began running his hands over his chest and down his legs, touching everything he could, appropriate or not. Startled, Seph did the one thing he remembered Zack telling him about.

"If someone tries to make you do something you don't want to," Zack had said after setting them down for rest in the nest that night. "Or if they are touching you in a way you don't want, a solid knee to the groin would take them out long enough for you to get away. If your attacker is enhanced, scream as you attack and you take the opening to run as fast as you can. Remember this for when we find a way to get our bodies back, kay bud?"

So Seph did, he had technically got his body back. He snapped his eyes open the same time he opened his mouth and slammed his knee up.

"LET ME GO!" The look of surprise and then pain as his president collapsed to the side, holding his head and his groin, wasn't enough to stop him from running out into the nightmare realm that awaited him beyond that door.

Seph ran, he ran and ignored the nightmares and scenes he had witnessed throughout his life, he kept running until he ended up in the one room that had no way out until the memory had passed, and that's where his control and identity started falling apart, until Zack appeared, until Zack pulled him close and reassured him that everything would be fine, that he wasn't what Hojo said, he wasn't a monster.

Zack had held him close, had taken him into a new room, had started to make his way through this room until the voice boomed out and the Golden Shadow that haunted this place finally found them and started chasing him. He didn't know if he had shouted something about running, said Zack's name with fear, or if Zack just understood without looking back that something was coming to hurt him and Zack, but Zack ran. He ran and burst through the door before them, didn't even slow down, he couldn't even keep up with what was happening, all he knew was the Golden Shadow was catching up to him like it always has, like it always will.

And then Angeal and Genesis were shouting at them, holding a door open even and Zack shifted to run towards them, going even faster, and it was only because Genesis is a pyromaniac that they had gotten out of that room before the Golden Shadow caught them, Genesis slamming the door in its face.

The relief was short-lived until Zack had pointed something out to them all. The room was the president's office, and sitting on the noticeably shorter and smaller white sofa without the black end tables, was the president, his jacket on the floor, his black tank top clinging to him to show off his muscles. And laying on the sofa next to him was Sephiroth himself, younger and clearly unresponsive, in only black briefs. It was what made him lower his guard, he had never been in the room before with another Sephiroth so he thought it was a memory, but he didn't remember it.

It wasn't until the president looked at Zack directly, his fingers curling then letting the Sephiroth on the sofa disappear into nothingness that Seph realized he had made a grave mistake. He had clung to Zack, scared of the man before him, because all he could do was fear his president once he had been told by that very man the truth about how he had managed to get what he wanted. He thought Zack would be stronger, would be able to fight the president's control. How wrong he was. Zack had fallen into the trap and was still looking the president right in the eyes, and Seph struggled to remove Zack's grip on him as Zack started moving closer to the president. When Genesis and Angeal got in the way, Seph wanted to cry in relief, they could help them, they could take out the president.

Seph felt his heart shatter, felt his new family falling apart as Angeal and Genesis were thrown into the wall, and by the twisted and wrong angles of their limbs, both arms and legs were broken. Seph tried to keep Zack from looking at Cloud, tried to force his head away and down, but Seph found he couldn't move Zack's head even a hair, and he couldn't shove his face or hands in the way because of how Zack was holding him, his hands could just reach Zack's jaw.

The world stopped as Seph heard those words, the ones that said the president had won.

"Welcome home, my handsome hero."

Seph renewed his efforts to escape Zack's grip, except this time Seph was doing it to escape Zack and get over to Angeal and Genesis. He had to escape this place, had to get away so he could take care of his injured family.

"Come now, Seph," the president purred soothingly, and Seph couldn't tell if he was standing behind him or still on the sofa. "You shouldn't be bothered by the bugs. It really doesn't do our family any good when you focus on those ungrateful insects."

And then Zack was standing, holding Seph in place with an iron grip on his shoulders, and Sephiroth watched in fear as President Cloud walked past them and stalked closer to were Genesis and Angeal were still laying in pain, their eyes livid fire.

"No!" Seph cried, trying to break Zack's grip in every way he knew how only for it to get tighter. "Stop it! Leave them alone! Leave my family alone!"

"It's okay Seph," came the soft voice from above Seph. "They aren't our family, they tried to break our family. Let him take care of the pretenders."

Seph could feel his heartbreaking, shattering even as his once beloved President stomped on Angeal's back, the resounding crack and Angeal's scream sinking his broken heart further.

"Please! I'll come back to you!" Seph cried, going limp in Zack's grip. "Just please don't hurt them! They didn't do anything to you!"

The President stopped and looked back at Sephiroth, his smile going sinister as he took in Seph's broken will. "Of course you will come back to me. You belong to me."

Sephiroth looked up, hope sparking in his eyes. Did that mean he was going to let them go?

Then the man placed his foot on Angeal's head and slowly started to crush his skull. Sephiroth felt fear, was he really going to watch his family die before his eyes? Just to appease this man?

Something in Seph snapped, like a wire that finally found its place and had tightened to connect both ends, and Sephiroth shouted the first thing that came to his mind.

"CLOUD! HELP US!" And the wire vibrated as if answering the call. But it was a soft vibration, one that caused Seph to feel defeated again.

Then the pain came, the pain of someone crushing his shoulders with superhuman strength. And Seph screamed in pain, his bones grinding and slowly breaking under the grip. When he managed to open his eyes, he met the furious gaze of his president, the eyes glowing even brighter.

"That worthless bug," the President spit out, his voice filled with hate and malice. "Will never come. You belong to me. And when I'm done with these two, I will personally snap that disgusting thread and kill that worm who dared to touch you."

Then the room exploded into a blinding white light.

"You seem to have things mistaken," a voice filled with hate spit out, but Seph didn't feel fear, no he felt relief. "I'm going to kill you and take my family back."

Then the room exploded, literally this time, as the force of two powerful forces clashed and ripped the room into nothing.

When Seph opened his eyes next, he was curled in the nest located on Bill's farm in the barn, his family waking up next to him. Seph almost believed it was all a nightmare until he saw Cloud collapsed against the wall, his clothes ripped and torn as if he had just come from a fight, the barn an utter mess of a battleground.

When the natural mako enhanced baby blue eyes met his, Sephiroth felt relief, the wire-like connection singing alive and getting stronger as Seph forced himself out of the pile and to Cloud's side, eager to be closer to him and to ensure he was okay.

Cloud just collapsed to the ground and held Seph close to him, his hands clinging to the silver feathers. Seph said nothing, only pulled himself closer to Cloud. His content was ruined however when Cloud made a motion with one of his hands and then Zack's yelp was heard. Seph turned around to look at the nest, only to see Angeal and Genesis holding down a struggling Zack, Zack who's eyes were glowing unnaturally bright like his presidents did.

"You're going to explain what that was Seph," Cloud stated softly, his voice leaving no room for argument. "And you're going to tell me everything you know about breaking that man's control."

Sephiroth looked back at Cloud, the man who saved them, even if he didn't know how he had, and nodded. He would tell Cloud everything, he would tell them all everything, the entire truth this time, without holding anything back. He had a family now, one that had gotten hurt and almost killed because he hadn't trusted them with the entire truth. These people knew him, Zack had even watched as his Seph fell into insanity and he still tried to save him. They had tried to save them even when they didn't know what was happening. Sephiroth knew he could trust these people with the truth.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for the long wait for this chapter. Inspiration struck multiple times, but the characters just wanted to snuggle and sleep. They were also just being lazy chocobos and it was annoying because nothing flowed right. Sorry guys!
> 
> Also! WARNING! HINTED SEXUAL ASSAULT AGAINST A CHILD! Sephiroth didn't have the best childhood in this story, and his President took advantage of that to do what he wanted with the young boy. Sephiroth thinks back to those times vaguely and he has major abandonment issues because of his President.

**Chapter 6**

Cloud didn't know what he was doing when he felt the tug in his chest, but he knew he had to follow it. It felt so much like when Sephiroth was tugging on his mind that he felt frozen at first, fear gripping him, that irrational fear that Sephiroth was going to bear down on him and kill him while he was frozen. When he felt the tug continue calling him but from his chest and not his head he felt an unusual calm, but also an unusual fear. It was this revelation, this sudden understanding, and feeling, that made Cloud leave the bed as silently as possible to not wake Tifa and make his way to where the tug was bringing him.

He didn't realize what was happening, or where he was going until he was entering the barn and saw the angry black hazy fog surrounding the four chocobos, the silver crying out in pain while the other three twisted and groaned in agony. Whatever the fog thing was, it was hurting all of them. Then the feeling of being led by the tug was back, stronger than the last time he felt something like this. He was quick to ignore reasoning and logic, the fear and sorrow the tug was bleeding through was cause enough for Cloud to grip his sword tightly and walk into the haze with a purpose. Pain and bright light had greeted him, and he found himself wandering in an empty white world, the pain getting greater the longer he stayed there.

Then he heard the scream, a scream in a very familiar voice but so much younger. Cloud didn't think, he followed the sound, eventually running into a wall the same color as the floor and ceiling. Cloud paused, the scream was just beyond this white room, but where even was he?

"That worthless bug," came a voice that sounded like his own but filled with so much hate and malice. Cloud gripped his weapon tighter, it had come from directly behind the wall he was standing before. "Will never come. You belong to me. And when I'm done with these two, I will personally snap that disgusting thread and kill that worm who dared to touch you."

A soft whimper, pain in his chest from the thread he had been unconsciously following, and Cloud swung, his sword connecting to the wall so hard it exploded. Cloud was aware by the flinches from everyone in the room before him that the bright light had escaped into the extravagant but welcoming office he found himself in.

A quick second to take in the situation before him showed two familiar-looking men on the ground before the wall to his left, both men with broken bones and in various states of pain. One of them, the black-haired one, had a man in a suit outfit crushing his skull with the fancy shoes the bastard was wearing. The bastard looked like him in every way, except for the missing sword and the suit instead of battle gear.

A glance to his right was what made his anger rise to the point of blissful sharpening calm. Standing closer to a white sofa before a wall of windows, was Zack looking not a bit different from when he died on the cliff and Sephiroth, looking so small and fragile compared to Zack, who was holding his shoulders tightly. It would have made Cloud feel better, Zack protecting Sephiroth, but a second look and letting his hearing come back to him showed that Zack's eyes were unusually bright, even for all of his enhancements, and the bones in Seph's shoulders were being crushed and broken under Zack's grip.

He pulled his eyes away from Zack and Seph to turn his glare to his doppelganger, gripping his sword tightly. "You seem to have things mistaken," he spat out, his voice filled with hate. He could feel the relief coming from the two men on the ground and Seph. This bastard was going to die for hurting his family. "I'm going to kill you and take my family back."

He dashed out and swung at the bastard wearing his face, and the man threw his arm out, a sword appearing in his grasp to block the blow. Cloud got to see the man's face change from rage to shock as the room around them exploded and the bastard was ripped away from their clash as if being dragged away by an unseen force. Cloud was quick to grab the two injured men and throw them through the hole he made into the white expanse instead of the black void they were all being sucked into. As he turned towards Zack and Seph he growled as he saw the bastard wearing his face trying to take Zack and Seph into the darkness with him, and how only Seph was keeping Zack from following the bastard.

A quick burst of speed and then Cloud had his sword buried to the hilt in the bastard with his right arm, his left one wrapped around both Zack and Seph, before he jumped back with the two, dragging his sword out painfully and swiftly from the bastard. He had them through the hole he had made and into the white expanse beyond before the darkness consumed the entire room behind him.

Cloud didn't get a chance to breathe through as the white room shattered around him. When Cloud opened his eyes again, he was met with the barn, though it looked more like a warzone than a barn at the moment, and the four slowly waking chocobo's that he had adopted into his family. He tried to move closer, to check on them, but his body hurt and soon he was leaning against the wall for support, his sword digging into the ground to help keep him upright.

A sudden weight against his side and the worried but relieved slitted emerald green eyes set in the face of the silver chocobo in his face, was enough for Cloud to finally collapse to the ground, ready to pass out and sleep for the next twenty-four hours. He smiled lightly when Seph came to the ground with him, curling closer to him, but he lost the smile when he looked back over at the other three. Zack had finally opened up his eyes, his eyes still holding that unnaturally bright glow that they had been in that bastard's world, the same bright glow that that bastard's had been.

A quick hand signal to the other two to restrain Zack, and he turned his attention back to Seph, who looked sad and beaten, his entire body screamed resignation as if he knew something they didn't.

"You're going to explain what that was Seph," Cloud stated as softly as he could, careful to keep his voice light and calming, but also an order at the same time. "And you're going to tell me everything you know about breaking that man's control."

Cloud watched so many emotions run through Sephiroth's eyes, and Cloud instantly felt sorry for even thinking of demanding that Sephiroth spill everything to him. But the determination that took hold of those bright emerald green cat-like eyes had him keeping his mouth shut. He still saw the other emotions in those eyes, but Sephiroth was going to tell them what he wanted to know.

He only hoped that it wasn't as bad as he was thinking it was because that office looked too much like the old President's office in Shinra, only it was slightly more welcoming, and that bastard was him, of that Cloud had no doubts about it, not with those deep sky blue eyes and that untamable mass of blonde spikes called hair on that man's head.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Sephiroth knew he had to get Zack back to himself, but he honestly didn't know how to break out of the control once you were in it. President Strife was a cruel bastard and he had a habit of breaking people's minds and taking their memories and replacing them. It was why even though Sephiroth was terrified of him, he still loved the man and would do anything for him. But being with these versions of Zack, Angeal, and Genesis and not the ones President Strife had broken was so empowering in making him want to rebel. It was only after he had started to rebel against the man that he started to remember bits and pieces of the life he lived before President Strife took them from him.

Though Sephiroth had to admit it was nice living like a normal person and not like he had been raised in the labs for ten years of his life. Though he felt so broken, so ripped apart and stitched back together in a way more mind breaking then living in the labs. Though that was probably the reason President Strife had done those things to him. Twelve years old and he already knew just how to please his President in ways that made his Angeal and Genesis sick and his Zack pissed. They had tried to teach him that what the President was doing to him was wrong, that it was sick and that he shouldn't be touching him like that, especially since he didn't know anything but obeying commands so he really couldn't consent.

It was their care and concern that made Seph start questioning if what he knew was real or not. If what was happening to him was really his choice. If he wanted what the President was doing to him. Seeing how cruel his President was, seeing how the people he thought were friends were broken and cut down all for trying to get him out of a situation he was quickly coming to understand he wanted no part of.

It was family that made it easier to fight off the control that President Strife tried to enforce over him, that mind-numbing pleasure of following orders and seeing his President's pleased smile. It was friends that made his mind start questioning what was around him and to start thinking for himself. It was family and friends that helped him get his feet under him and stand against the control, but he didn't know how to break it once you were under it. He never managed it.

He didn't want to see Cloud's eyes filled with hate towards him, didn't want to see his new friends and family throw him away like the others had when he told them he wouldn't be able to tell them how to break the control. Though he knew even if he did know how to break the control, they still would throw him away and hate him once they understood that he wasn't really the Sephiroth they thought he was, that he wasn't like them, and that was exactly like what the President had wanted in the first place, and the god of his world got who and what he wanted.

"So let's start with the most urgent matter," Genesis grunted, pulling Seph from his thoughts. He was putting his entire weight on Zack's back to keep him from standing or getting a foothold to throw him and Angeal off. "Do you know how to break whatever has Zack's mind?"

Seph blinked and looked at Zack. "Not really," He said softly, his eyes trained on Zack. "I know how to fight it and keep from falling under, but I haven't ever been able to break the President's control. He usually gets tired of controlling me like a puppet eventually and lets me go. I don't think that will be the case for Zack though, not until the President can ensure Zack can never leave his side. Like he did for me until I did leave his side."

Angeal groaned, then slammed his head into Zack's to bring it back to the ground. "Great. Just what we needed. A SOLDIER stronger than us being mind-controlled by a bastard. My head still hurts and my bones still feel wrong and this isn't helping Zack!"

"Get a grip pup!" Genesis growled out, nipping just above Zack's tail. "You're better than this!"

"How did you learn to fight it?" Cloud asked, his voice soft. Seph knew if he looked, Cloud's eyes would be as cold as Shiva's eternal ice. The President always had that look when he wasn't good enough, Cloud would be no different.

"I had friends who pointed things out," Seph started. Here comes the anger, the hate from all of them. "Friends who helped me think for myself and realize that the President had basically taken all my memories and changed them into something else. Helped me see that what he was doing to me was wrong in multiple ways. It was only after he broke them and sent them to their deaths that I realized how close I really was to them, how broken and lonely I actually was. How weak and pathetic I really am. How what my President has always said about me is true."

"Friends huh?" Cloud said, then stood and moved towards Zack. "Friends help friends. Family helps family. If having thoughts of your own helped you keep him from controlling you, then I can help Zack break this. After all, I have broken free from the control of a god multiple times myself."

Zack stopped struggling as Cloud crouched to make eye contact with him. Cloud just sat and stared into his eyes. Zack stared right back.

"Hello Zack," Cloud said, sitting on the ground one leg pulled up to his chest, the other stretched before him. "You're lost in your own mind right now. But I know you can hear me."

"I'm not lost, you bug!" Zack hissed out.

"Of course you are," Cloud chuckled, smiling. "You're calling me, your best friend, a bug. You're lost in your head and I need you to come back to me. Aerith will be very sad if you don't come back to us."

Zack blinked in obvious confusion. "Aerith?"

"Your girlfriend," Cloud said, a smile still on his face. "She's making preparations to come see you again. You don't want to see her again while lost in your own head do you?"

Zack frowned, his eyes flickering between normal glow and the unnatural bright. "No… Aer can't see me like this…"

"So you're admitting you're lost?" Cloud asked, tilting his head to the side. "If you want I can help you come back to yourself so that Aerith doesn't see you like this."

"Cloud," Zack said, his voice cracking. His eyes were flaring brighter now. "Cloud it hurts… Make it stop."

Cloud moved closer, placed his hand on Zack's head, then everything froze. Zack and Cloud were glowing brighter, not just the eyes but their bodies were surrounded by a golden glow.

Before Seph could get too concerned with what was happening, Zack's eyes closed and he slumped to the ground passed out. Cloud leaned backwards and almost fell on top of Seph when he lost his balance.

"Fuck I hate that," Cloud muttered, his eyes closed as he shifted to rest easier against Seph, moving his hand to stroke the soft feathers of his neck. "He should be better when he wakes up though."

Angeal and Genesis both moved to get off of Zack, then started to cuddle him and make sure he was physically fine. Seph shifted his head to rest it on Cloud's lap.

"What did you do, Cloud?" Genesis asked after making sure Zack didn't have any major injuries. "What was that glow?"

Cloud didn't open his eyes or respond to Genesis' question, and if it wasn't for the fact that Cloud had stopped petting him and had frozen up, Seph would have thought that Cloud really hadn't heard it. "You don't need to worry about it. I got him out of that bastard's control and now we know how to stay out of it if he decides to try to take one of us again."

"You have the same powers he does don't you?" Seph asked softly. He lifted his head to look right at Cloud's face. "Is that why you're keeping them closed?"

Cloud groaned, opened his eyes to look right at Seph and waited for him to react. "I called upon the cells inside my body that live in Zack as well to bring him back. It was how the One-Winged Angel managed to break my mind and turn me into a puppet multiple times, but using them is also how I managed to keep breaking myself out of it and turning the power from the cells into what makes me more monster than human, but I still have friends and I don't go on mindless slaughters, so when I do need to use them I know I have people who are ready to kill me if I can't find my way back."

Seph could only nod as he watched, fascinated and terrified, as Cloud's eyes slowly changed from the slitted green pulps so much like his own back to the sky blue he had come to associate with freedom and family. This Cloud's eyes were so much more open and loving then his President's eyes, the blue was brighter, the glow was softer, and his eyes were so much more expansive and expressive.

"Your eyes were like mine, but now they are back to being such beautiful blues."

The sound of three chocobo's choking on air and Cloud's wide blue shocked eyes startled Sephiroth. "I-I… I…"

Cloud recovered first, his eyes softening and a slight flush on his face. "Don't say shit like that… My eyes aren't beautiful…"

Then Seph found his head was forced back into Cloud's lap as three other chocobo's were forcing Cloud to look at them. Seph could only laugh happily as Cloud started turning redder with each word from the three. Maybe he wouldn't be thrown away once they remembered he was supposed to tell them the truth.

Seph curled around Cloud, keeping him in place when he tried to stand and leave, and allowed himself to be lured into a peaceful sleep for the first time in a long long time, the sounds of the other three complementing Cloud's eyes, hair, flustered face, and anything really that they could come up with.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally made it to Cloud's farm! Things are about to take a nosedive in this chapter as I finally put into place a headcanon I have about Cloud.
> 
> My headcanon: this Cloud has depression and a hard time showing emotions even after everything they have gone through, even though everyone thinks he's doing better at showing emotions, though it's only that they have gotten better at reading him. Cloud also is dealing with depression the same way I am, but dealing with his issues himself and not going to anyone for help. Not healthy I know, but its working for me, so I figured it might as well go for Cloud. Only Cloud can't detect that he's falling back down the slope he's fighting to get out of and he keeps falling back into the habits of thinking people only keep him around and talk to him so that they can get things out of him and will throw him away when he isn't useful anymore.
> 
> And before anyone says anything, I had to put into the story a quick little bit of this showing through, so he does get lost in his head and starts falling into these thoughts. SO WARNING! DEPRESSION THEMES! Please don't hate, I am kinda putting myself out in the open with this by putting this on Cloud so please if you don't like just leave. If you don't like it because you found it wasn't implemented properly go right on ahead and let me know!
> 
> CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM is the lifeblood of authors!
> 
> Thank you guys for reading and enjoy!

**Chapter 7**

“Seph seemed really scared by that man. We need to find a way to stop him from getting closer to him again.”

“Can you blame Seph? All that man had to do was just look into Zack’s eyes to start taking control over him.”

“Geal we can’t do anything about who that person was until Seph finally starts telling the truth to us. Putting the mind control aside, that man looked just like Cloud, only in a suit and with unnaturally glowing eyes.”

“He radiated evil.”

“Mind control pushed aside or not, it felt like bliss falling under his control. It was so easy to forget that he had just hurt you guys. It was frighteningly easy to forget that Seph was fighting to get away from him, to keep me from looking at him… It was so easy for him to break into my head and take control.”

“All assholes with the ability to get into your head have an easy time taking over the first time. Just learn the signs and fight back. That’s what I learned Jenova decided I would make a fine puppet and sent Sephiroth after me, even though at that point he wasn’t even Sephiroth any more, just the body with an outside force pulling the strings.”

“You are going to have to tell us more about the history of this world. I don’t want to accidentally make someone mad because of something I say while here.”

“I don’t know about you two, but I like being pampered like this. I don’t know if I want to find a way to get my body back. Cloud does wonders with his hands, I might just have to stay a Chocobo forever.”

“You’re not going to stay a Chocobo forever, Genesis.”

“Gen please don’t say such things. It’s really weird. Cloud is making a really weird face now.”

“That, Angeal, is the face of one who has just been told that he gives such good massages that the patron keeps getting turned on and wants you to continue touching him until he reaches his organism, even though you’re not into him like that.”

“THANK YOU ZACK! BUT PLEASE SHUT UP!”

“You fools are being extremely loud. I’m sure you barbarians have woken our beloved Silver up by now.”

Seph stayed curled up, not moving and not opening his eyes to look at the others now staring at him. He knew they were staring, bluntly at that. He could feel his skin crawling with the gazes. It was very uncomfortable, and he didn’t know if he could deal with it right now, not with the way his gut was turning and protesting every small movement.

Oh, how he wished the ground would stop moving.

“Seph is still asleep, Gen. He isn’t going to wake up for another hour or two. And please refrain from such vulgar talk, Zack. I don’t think poor Cloud is going to be able to stand being in the same room as us much longer if you both don’t stop.”

“I don’t think letting Seph sleep through the move onto the  _ Shera _ was a good idea.”

A hand softly started stroking his back, rubbing gently over the spot where his neck connected to his body. He felt slightly better as the gentle motions started to soothe him.

“Hey, Seph,” the owner of the hand cooed softly. “The trip is almost over okay? Stay strong for me just a little bit longer alright?”

Seph groaned and opened his eyes to look at Cloud. He felt really bad and he hated feeling this bad.

“It’s going to be alright,” Cloud cooed softly, one of his hands making the shut up gesture to the ones behind him while his other hand continued to run soothingly across his back. “You’re just suffering the effects of motion sickness. It’ll pass once we get off the ship, but Cid is doing his best to keep us as stable as he can. It shouldn’t get too much worse.”

“I don’t like being sick,” Seph mumbled, pushing his head under his wings. “They always hurt me when I fall sick. Especially him…”

“He’s not here to hurt you anymore,” Cloud cooed softly, shifting to sit closer to Seph. Seph sighed as both of those soft and talented hands ran through his feathers and started the pleasant motions having his feathers groomed. “Just relax and try not to move too much while we’re still in the air.”

Seph hummed in understanding and shifted so Cloud could reach more spots easier, closed his eyes, and let himself be lulled into that blissful state Genesis must have been talking about when saying he could stay a Chocobo forever if Cloud continued to groom and care for them like this.

Maybe being a Chocobo for the rest of his life wasn’t such a bad idea.

Cloud chuckled. “Don’t worry Seph. When you guys find a way to get your human bodies back, I’ll continue to care for you. You’ll just have to learn to be more independent and learn how to do hair care yourself for when I’m not around.”

“See, Geal! Even Sephiroth wants to stay a Chocobo! Cloud has magic fingers! I’m sure of it!”

Seph fell back asleep to the sounds of the others laughing and Cloud’s whines of embarrassment.

**FINAL FANTASY VII**

Cloud grunted as he lifted up Sephiroth and carried him off the ship. The poor boy/bird was suffering from motion sickness almost to the extent he himself did before he got used to the rolling and shifting of the airships Cid flew them around in. Thankfully this was the only time he would have to move them on an airship for the foreseeable future, so Seph wouldn’t have to suffer again.

He followed the three other SOLDIERs turned Chocobos to the pasture he owned. It was a nice gift from Rufus and the Turks, to give him a place that made him feel at home, probably to keep an eye on him, but also to thank him for saving them multiple times already. Though at this point, it’s more of a ‘they come running into town being chased by a nest of pissed off monsters that Cloud and Tifa have to deal with because someone made a bet the other couldn’t do something and then it resulted in Cloud and Tifa covered in monster guts’ sort of situations, but the large area Cloud now legally owned was wonderful.

He still made sure the Turks understood that monster attacks were okay for him in Edge, but bring a monster nest near his pasture and Chocobos and the Turks would be returning on the brink of death with a bloody note reading to fuck off and leave his babies alone.

And now, Cloud had four new additions to his family of Chocobos, and even to AVALANCHE now with Genesis, Angeal, Sephiroth, and Zack. Well, that’s a lie, Zack had been adopted into AVALANCHE the second everyone found out that Zack was the entire reason Cloud was still alive, and to see how he still worshiped Zack as a hero, one that should have taken the mantle of planets savior and left Cloud to die instead of trying to save him.

Cloud dropped Sephiroth, his eyes going wide. “Shit! They are going to kill me!”

Genesis, Angeal, and Zack all swung around and looked at Cloud in shock. Sephiroth blinked up from where he had crumbled ungracefully to the ground when Cloud dropped him. Cid and Vincent, who had walked off the  _ Shera _ in time to hear Cloud’s worried shout, each blinked and then burst into laughter. Of course, they would understand the sudden panic.

Cloud had promised to send each of them a daily update text after the events of Geostigma were solved after all. Cloud had gotten better at sending them all a text, even if it ended up in a group chat and it was just an ‘On delivery. Sleeping under the stars on the side of the road.’

And Cloud hadn’t texted a single one of them since he had gotten that call from Bill and then called up Tifa. Tifa might be lenient because she understood the situation, having been with them for it, but the others not so much. Especially not Yuffie.

“What do I even say about this? How do I tell Yuffie about this without making her curious enough to come over and visit before I have an actual plan for this?!”

Zack, having met the infamous ‘Treasure Princess’ himself, burst into laughter and collapsed on the ground next to Seph, checking him over as he laughed until he couldn’t breathe. Angeal and Genesis were too confused by what was happening and why Cloud was suddenly having a very visible panic attack to actually do anything to help. Cid was still laughing his ass off, but Vincent had pulled out his phone and had started doing something on it.

Cloud turned around to look at his friends for help, only to see Vincent hold his phone up for Cid to see, causing Cid to break out into hysterics again, Vincent gaining that smirk that spelled Cloud’s doom, and after a moment, Cloud’s phone dinged with the ringing bells notification sound for the AVALANCHE group chat.

Vincent turned his phone around to show Cloud what was just sent into the group chat, and Cloud felt himself pale. As Cloud heard his phone start ringing over and over and over again with the notifications of the group chat, he slid to his knees in the huddle of birds at his feet and wished the world would swallow him up. Cid’s laughter as he was dragged back onto the  _ Shera  _ by Vincent to leave was loud and overwhelming.

Cloud stayed hidden in the feathers and fuzz of the four SOLDIER Chocobos until he couldn’t hear the Shera anymore. He only left the bundle and led them all to a house after they had started to shiver from the cold air. Cloud didn’t say anything while they walked, not even Zack could get him out of his head and his racing thoughts.

They had all seen the picture, they would all draw their own conclusions, they would all realize just how worthless he was. Why had they stayed in touch with him over the years? Other than for his brute strength because of his enhancements, he wasn’t even really human anymore. They had no reason to seek him out, to try to keep in touch with him. He hadn’t been human when he met them, and he had lost any traces of humanity with each dip into the lifestream, even Sephiroth had taken his humanity slowly each time he had taken over Cloud’s mind.

Why would they want to stay close to him? Why would these four who could find someone much better than him to help them, stay close to him? Why would they curl around him and comfort him? Why aren’t they afraid of the monster walking around with them? Why-

The angry screech was all the warning Cloud got as he was dragged out of his thoughts, and then the feeling of four becks digging into his body and a pair of claws scratching at his shins.

As soon as they came they left, and Cloud fell to the ground holding his heavily bleeding leg.

“Do I have your attention now?” Zack, standing tall above Cloud, was glaring down at him, his eyes glowing a violent green. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Yes,” Cloud managed to say through the lump in his throat. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from Zack’s. They looked so wrong on his face. But at the same time, so right.

“Good,” Was all Zack said before he closed his eyes and visibly tried to calm himself as he moved away. Angeal following after glancing Cloud over once.

“You caused Zack to go green, Cloud,” Came the soft whisper to his left, then a red head was nudging his hands aside and looking at his leg. “You really made him mad.”

“You started to radiate something dark,” the even softer voice said softly. “Zack tried to get your attention in every way he knew, and when nothing worked, he got all of us to attack you.”

Radiate something dark? Cloud blinked and looked over at the silver chocobo currently trying to squash himself into the ground.

“You had quite the dark aura if even I could see it around you,” came the voice from his other side, Genesis apparently happy with how Cloud was healing from their attack. “You really had him scared, Cloud. I’ve only felt an aura as dark as yours from someone convinced they mean nothing to the world other than one thing they think they are good at because people praised them for it.”

Cloud lowered his head and said nothing. He wasn’t healed enough to walk away from this encounter unlike when the others had tried to talk emotions with him.

“Cloud?” Soft silver feathers filled his vision as a wing curled against his chest. “Do you want to die?”

“No,” Cloud blinked. He didn’t recognize the voice that answered, that broken sob. “I’m not suicidal. Monsters aren’t suicidal.”

“You think you're a monster?” He could feel Genesis watching him, laying his red wing over his still kneeling form.

“I know I’m a monster,” Came the broken voice. The voice so broken Cloud didn’t recognize it as his own until both wings tightened around him.

“I thought when I grew a wing and learned what Shinra had done to me that I was a monster,” Genesis began, starting to groom Cloud’s hair. “I thought I was a monster that they had created, and I convinced my best friend to leave Shinra with me when I found out what they had done to him as well. Neither of us thought to look for Sephiroth’s records. The boy who was thrown onto the battlefield and forced into the position of General, the one who was so perfect and flawless he had to have been raised in a lab to be just what they wanted. We left him behind, I called myself a monster and started causing havoc in towns and in the tower itself. Angeal considered himself a monster as well, but he was called an angel by someone or he started looking at his wings differently than I did and called himself an angel, but the result was the same.”

“Angeal didn’t consider himself human, he didn’t consider himself a monster either, but he still made the puppy kill him.”

“Why are you-”

“Hush,” Genesis sighed. “I found out after Angeal had died just what kind of childhood Sephiroth had, just what was done to him, but I was far too gone to actually think about how Sephiroth would deal with losing two of the people who actually loved him, Zack being the third and last person. I drove him to go searching more on who his mother was, on his background, because I was hurting, he had refused to help me, he had thrown me aside. But it was only after I had been cured by the goddess herself, that I realized that Sephiroth had every right to hate me, to throw me away, to not want to help me. I had thrown him away first. I had taken the only tight bonds of friendship away from him, and didn’t even stop to consider that he was like me and Angeal. The Golden Trio was a name I had heard before, along with many others, but I think the Golden Trio was the best way to describe us.”

“Gold is beautiful and strong,” Seph said, curling closer to Cloud. “But it is also brittle and quick to break if strained enough. A beautiful and strong friendship that lasted years, before the knowledge of just how much of your life was controlled and how little wasn’t, of how you weren’t seen as human by those around you that you once trusted, of how one decision from one person shattered that friendship forever.”

“The Golden Trio were born and raised to be monsters in human skin,” Genesis continued. “We had been hurt and shattered, beaten and bruised until we couldn’t move anymore, and the only ones who cared were the other two. Sephiroth was raised to be a monster in an environment that was cold and unforgiving, Angeal and I were raised as normal kids with normal childhoods who were manipulated into wanting to become SOLDIERs by our doctor, Hollander. We had nothing on Sephiroth’s broken mind and stunted social skills. But we still cut him out and didn’t bring him with us, even though we knew he was treated worse than we were by the very company we were going to start trying to destroy. We were real monsters for seeing how Sephiroth was treated and leaving him there. We were monsters for not finding a way to get him out of Shinra’s hold. We were the true monsters for only thinking of ourselves. I was willing to burn the world to get my cure, Angeal wouldn’t listen to anything I said about there being a cure. No, Angeal only saw his wings and his want to be human, but knowing he will never be fully human, he threw aside all his beliefs and made Zack kill him.”

“You are not a monster,” Seph said, standing up. “I don’t associate with them on principle. One monster in my life is enough. And trust me when I tell you, if you were a monster then I would have tried to kill you or run away several times by now, not curl up and sleep peacefully in your lap.”

“Speaking of monsters,” Genesis cooed, his tone light and soothing. “We really should move into someplace warmer than out in the cold night air and talk about the one that looked like Cloud and was willing to kill us to make sure you never left him.”

“That is the only monster I have to allow into my life,” Seph bit out, moving to tug on Cloud’s shirt until he stood up. “And I am not going back to him again. Not after everything they sacrificed to get me away from him.”

**FINAL FANTASY VII**

It had taken Seph some time to find where Angeal and Zack had wandered off to, and in that time, Genesis had found out some very interesting things. Like how Cloud only had barns built onto his land, had stalls built for his Chocobos, had organization problems so bad he was either freakishly organized like Sephiroth, or a walking disaster zone like Zack depending on where you went.

His stalls and the straw/hay barn were cleaned and organized daily, all the bad strawn and hay being thrown into a compost bin out of enhanced range, except for the days the wind blew it towards them. His barn/shed where he kept his bike and Tifa’s truck was an organized disaster that he was advised to never enter without very thick boots or nails and other sharp objects would pierce the flesh and be a bitch to remove, but Cloud could find everything he needed when he needed to do repairs, change the oil, do check-ups, etc. Then you got to his workplace where he had filing cabinets and a wooden desk, but the papers were everywhere, and while Cloud claimed he could find what he needed, it would take him a few hours without help to organize and put everything into the filing cabinets and desk drawers.

Apparently, Cloud also had a small spot in the hay barn where he slept when he was on his land, as he had led them there when Seph insisted on staying with Cloud tonight, for everyone’s peace of mind.

“We can fit into houses you know,” Genesis remarked after Cloud had finally finished telling him about the places on his land. “You don’t have to keep us in a barn with you.”

“Well, we’re not traveling into Edge just to bunk down in the living room of the upstairs living area,” Cloud shot back. “Tifa would kill me for bringing you guys into the bar.”

“What about your house?” Genesis asked, shifting so Cloud could be more comfortable laying against him. “Surely on a plot of land this big, you should have a house to call your own.”

“The house that came with this place was old and falling apart,” Cloud said, his eyes drifting closed and his body slowly becoming dead weight against Genesis. His voice was coming out slower and softer, exhaustion was grabbing the poor man again. “It caught on fire while I wasn’t around because the Turks had decided to come play a prank on me and started my stove before leaving. Fuckers burned it down.”

“Turks are pains like that aren’t they?” Genesis cooed. Cloud would be asleep very soon, and hopefully with people who cared about him to cuddle and wake up to, he would stop feeling like he was a monster. Monsters didn’t have what he had, a family that would love and protect him no matter the rank or gender. His pack was full of warriors who would stand and fight beside each other, this Genesis knew for a fact.

When he got no reply, Genesis laid his head down and watched the door to the barn from his place as Cloud’s pillow. He wouldn’t let the others wake the poor man and question him at the moment. He hated seeing someone as strong as Cloud crying over something he couldn’t control. A savior of the planet, a hero to the people, leader of the most powerful group of people existing in the world, and the one people go to to get a second look at something or fresh eyes on a project, Cloud had a bunch of wonderful titles and traits that kept people coming to him for help, but also let them see that he wasn’t all-powerful and he need help himself sometimes.

Tifa was a great gossip and had lots of wonderful and not so wonderful things to say about Cloud, and the hurt him you die talk was also wonderful to hear. People loved him and admitted to needing him for things they couldn’t do on their own, but at the same time they also never stopped trying to protect him no matter how powerful he was, because as Tifa had put it, “Cloud was emotionally weak, not that it's a bad thing, but he had a hard time controlling his emotions and tries to cut ties with them. I only noticed he did it after we had been traveling together for a few months. It was why he was never truly happy while having fun around the campfire with us, and why he has never truly been happy since Nibelhiem even though nothing is around to hurt him anymore.”

As Genesis watched Seph, Angeal, and Zack enter the barn he made a vow to himself. He would see Cloud smiling and laughing, he would see him happy and stable before the world took him away from the broken but fixable blonde beside him. He would also see Sephiroth happy and safe from the blonde monster chasing him from his world. These two had become his family. He wasn’t going to let them be driven into madness or self-isolation because of issues that people could help them with. He wouldn’t stop until he was positive that his second chance at making friends and family wouldn’t end in disaster as it had before.

No, Cloud and Sephiroth deserved so much more than anything he could ever do for them, but he was going to help them, and no one could stop him when he made up his mind about what he was going to do and who was important to him. Cloud and Sephiroth would be protected and fixed back into humans who could function without the thought of being a monster even crossing their minds once. He also wasn’t letting Angeal go crazy again, and Zack wouldn’t have to die for anyone again. Shame he couldn’t see the puppy get with his girl and have little puppies running around to spoil, but he would work with what he got.

Of course, he wasn’t letting anyone out of the nest and jumble of limbs, wings, and feathers until they had heard Seph’s story. He hadn’t changed after starting to lose his mind from degradation, he was still a bastard who loved flames and stories, only this time, the story would be used to help find a way to fight off the monster that looked like Cloud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Quick little end note! I want to say thank you to the guest on Fanfiction.net that left the story suggestion in the comments of the last chapter about more Shelke and Shalua moments set in DOC or before, even both. I love the idea and once I get one of my stories finished I will definitely start working on it. But I have to warn you that it might take a while to get up, as I haven't actually played DOC or watched anything for it so I only know about them from fanfics I have read with them both in it. I want this to be a wonderful story when I write it, so I am going to either find a way to play it myself, or I am going to have to watch someone play it on youtube. I don't actually have a PS2 that works, so I am going to have to find a way to play it on an emulator on the computer to learn about them that way, or just dedicate three days to none stop DOC playthrough watching and character analysis videos.
> 
> That being said! If anyone wants to help by letting me know of videos and YouTubers, or even places to get an emulator that can run DOC I would be really grateful, even for those of you who want to just rant about how amazing one of those two girls are and how excited you are to see what could come to life under my pen when this story gets going.
> 
> Thanks once again and have a wonderful day!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seph's story and Zack's sorta bad cooping habits. Also fun surprise and visitor at the end!
> 
> WARNING!! MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT! And depression/anxiety attacks for our baby Chocobo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is up a lot faster than the last one! You can thank the creative gods for striking inspiration to get this out.
> 
> WARNING AGAIN! MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT! And depression/anxiety attacks for our baby Chocobo. If you don't like it or can get triggered you can skip over to the first line break and continue from there! If you do, just remember he was raised in a lab with immoral people who cared very little about him. The only change I made to his background is the age he was released from the labs and shoved in the public eye, the fact that Hojo actually cared about him and tried to protect him, and that it wasn't Shinra's idea to make an enhanced individual. This is all I can say for those of you who skip Seph's part of the story. The rest is explained in less detail by Zack before other things start happening.
> 
> Enjoy and please don't forget to comment and let me know your thoughts down below!

**Chapter 8**

“I guess I should start at the beginning,” Seph sighed, not moving from his position of laying on Cloud’s legs. The affirmative hums were all he got before he sighed again. “The earliest thing I can remember is the labs. Hojo wasn’t the nicest person alive, but he also wasn’t the worst. He was kind to me when no one was looking, he tried to make the experiments and tests as easy on me as possible, but he still had to hurt me to make sure no one reported him for not doing his job. His job was to create the perfect lifeform, to make the perfect super-soldier. But he wasn’t doing it for Shinra. He was doing it for a blonde-haired traveler that had eyes that glowed brighter than the sun.”

“I never realized he was there, that my President was the one that kept Hojo working on twisting me and breaking me. President Strife wasn’t even the president yet, but he was always able to find us. He scared Hojo.” Soft stroking motions started on his head, he could feel the others shifting closer to him, but he was lost in his memories of the cold labs.

“Hojo never once claimed to be my father. He knew who my father was, but he refused to tell me. Refused to even say the man’s name for fear that the blonde traveler would catch wind of it and go hunt down the man so he could never take me or protest any of the things that were being done to me. Something Hojo was certain would happen because he feared the blonde traveler who had killed my mom after she had given birth to me, and my father had worked closely with Hojo before something happened and he was forced to leave before I was born. The official report says mom died during childbirth and I was stillborn due to complications. My father never came back, and the blonde man told Hojo to perfect me, to make me the perfect soldier.”

“It was hell living in that place, but Hojo was the only one who actually cared about me. But Hojo really couldn’t do much to help me, the blonde traveler wouldn’t let him. My future President wouldn’t let him.”

Sephiroth sighed and opened his eyes when the hand left his head. He thought about looking at Cloud, to reaffirm that this was a safe place. He closed his eyes and shifted so he was still next to everyone but had space between them. He was giving them the space to leave that they would need.

“My memories start to get hazy towards the last year or two of the labs,” Seph curled closer to himself, his head resting against his wing which was pulled taunt to his body. “I remember how people would hate me, but suddenly I was starting to remember arguments that others had around me, but those who had once cared were calling me a monster and those who couldn’t care less were calling me just a human boy. I remember Hojo tried his hardest to protect me from the more immoral scientists, and those that were frightened into doing things they normally wouldn’t. It was horrible, nerve-wracking, and I found myself trying to hide from a lot of them in Hojo’s office. He never ratted me out, that I know, but my memories have the blonde traveler bursting into the room with someone horrible behind him, someone who wanted me hurt badly and had told him where I went to hide when things were becoming too much.”

“I didn’t see Hojo again except in passing when he was arguing with people that they were going to break me, scar me, ruin me, kill the little boy that he worked so hard to keep alive. When I next saw him, he was to introduce me to the board members of Shinra. That was also the time when I heard the blonde traveler actually speak, and he listed out all the crimes that Hojo had committed, every single one done because President Strife had held a blade to his throat and told him to do them or I would be given to someone more capable. A week later and I couldn’t remember my time in the labs as good, I couldn’t even remember that Hojo cared more for me than anyone else in that building at the time. But Hojo couldn’t help me anymore. A week after that and Hojo had been killed in his sleep, but people said he died of heart complications, like a heart attack.”

Seph did some kind of snort growl thing in the base of his throat, it sounded weird even to him, but he still wouldn’t open his eyes. He didn’t want them to see just how broken he was. “Heart complications indeed. I don’t know about you, but a normal unenhanced individual can’t function with a sword run through his heart in such a way that it cut his heart clean in half. I should have realized sooner that it was a bad place, that the President was behind everything that was happening to everyone. But he had already gotten into my head. He had already started to change my memories and even me. He had already taken everything I loved from me and was trying to plant himself as the center of my world.”

“The next two years passed in a blurry haze, sometimes he would let me surface to see the world around me, but he usually kept me controlled and under his thumb in a haze. The only times when I wasn’t under his thumb was when I was with my Angeal, Genesis, and Zack, and it was the best mistake that he could have ever made, letting me be conscious to spend time with them. They cared for me, protected me, took me out to see new places, to learn new things. The also slowly learned the truth about our President every time we met.”

“Seph,” a soft voice called. Zack. “Come closer, your shaking.”

Sephiroth drew himself in tighter. He was getting to the parts that were becoming clearer the more he talked about his past. He could remember the sickening tastes, the brutal touches, the horrid smells, the screams that he knew were ripping his throat apart. He could remember all of it and he didn’t know if he could handle anyone touching him. He felt so dirty, so disgusting, broken, like a puppet. Is that why he couldn’t sleep right without curling around Cloud? Had he broken him so badly that Seph can’t function without the feel of that body curled around and against him?

A soft hand, gentle against his head, cut through all his thoughts. Seph slowly opened his eyes, bright broken green cat-like eyes meeting bright sky blue eyes, eyes holding understanding and softness. Cloud understood, Cloud got it, Cloud didn’t hate him or see him as a failure, he hadn’t upset Cloud by being weak.

“You don’t have to talk about it anymore,” Cloud whispered, sitting before him, his hand still lightly rubbing circles on his head. “I understand, and the more you speak the more pissed off I become. To think a version of me is fucking up your life so badly. It makes me sick and it makes me want to kill him more.”

“Why?” Seph asked quietly. “Why do you care? You don’t even know me.”

Cloud looked up at the ceiling and frowned as he thought about it, his hand never stopping the gentle motions. After what felt like forever, Cloud finally shrugged and looked back at him. “I don’t know. It just seems wrong. I kill things for a living as an actual super-soldier. I stopped my Sephiroth from destroying the world multiple times already, and I can’t hate him. I couldn’t hate him after we found the documents describing just what he went through, just how badly he was treated and how inhuman he was raised to be. To think that people would actually force others into doing this to a child who can’t fight back, to kill the parents of the child to prevent them from stopping them. To know it was another world’s me, to know that another me was the cause of this suffering. It’s wrong, even on my broken moral compass I know it’s wrong.”

Everyone was quiet, no one wanted to break the silence, not after seeing Seph’s face scrunch up and frown in thought, though it might have had something to do with the way his face had done so in the most adorable baby Chocobo way possible, even though while being the youngest Sephiroth was still the tallest.

Cloud sat closer to him, not enough to have more physical contact, but close enough that if Seph wanted it he could easily push himself against the only solid connection he had to them instead of lost in his head. His hand never stopped the soothing circles ontop of Seph’s head as Zack lead Angeal and Genesis off to explore his land. Cloud stayed by Seph’s side, content to lean against the wall and let himself drift into thoughts of if he should build a new house or not.

**FINAL FANTASY VII**

Zack laughed as he ran around with Angeal and Genesis. They were messing with the other Chocobos Cloud was raising on his farm, and they were out running all of them, even the Golds Cloud was so proud of. It was fun and it was a great way to distract them all from what they had all learned from Seph, the twelve-year-old boy who had been hurt on orders by the very President he had served even before the man was President.

Fuck it was still pissing him off.

Zack had dealt with enough cases of child abuse and sexual assault to see all the signs, he wasn’t stupid. Seph had been clinging to the one thing he knew, even when Cloud had been hostile towards him if only for a few minutes. He didn’t want to know more, not after seeing how Seph was silent, talking only when he thought it wouldn’t make others mad, he trailed behind, or stayed close to someone stronger than him. Zack should have put everything together sooner, especially when Seph started contradicting himself and looking oh so confused and scared.

“Zack!” Came the sudden shout.

Zack jolted out of his thoughts in time to slam on the breaks and avoid running straight off the cliff in front of him. He blinked owlishly. How the hell had he gotten so far from Cloud’s land without realizing it?

“Are you trying to kill yourself pup?!” Genesis shouted out, but his voice was shaking.

“Shit!” Zack said, before turning around to face the two very worried and scared chocobos behind him. “No of course not! I just got lost in my thoughts again. I’m sorry. It happens sometimes when I need to process things.”

“So you run off ledges?!” Genesis screeched, grabbing Zack harshly and dragging him away from the ledge. “Fuck I forgot you had a tendency to just run when you need to think. Run and squat. I should have paid more attention to where we were headed and stopped you earlier.”

“You couldn’t have known what was in front of us, Gen,” Zack tried calmly. No need to have the red-head freaking out on him. “It’s not your fault I accidentally led us to a cliff.”

Zack was tugged into the Chocobo equivalent of a group hug by Angeal and Genesis. He sighed but let them look over him anyway, had to reassure the mother hens somehow right? Now, where exactly where they? He should know these cliffs by heart now after watching Cloud roam them for a while now. That and he also explored quite a bit of the land while he was still alive.

Looking around as best he could with Genesis and Angeal still mother henning him, seriously getting out of hand here guys, he started to notice things that were very, very familiar. Like gun marks and small craters and cracks in the rocks where explosions had blown things up. Even the very rock that he knew he had hidden Cloud behind all those years ago.

“This is where I died,” Zack said. Then blinked when Geal and Gen reeled back with choked gasps. “I said that out loud didn’t I?”

“You died here?” Angeal asked, his entire body spinning in circles to see everything. “It looks like an old warzone.”

“He did say he died fighting an army Geal,” Genesis remarked, watching Zack closely. “We should leave, being in the place where you died shouldn’t be good for you.”

Zack was about to nod when he felt  _ IT _ . He didn’t know what  _ IT _ was, but he felt it none the less. Zack turned his head to look back at the ledge, he felt like  _ IT _ was calling him.

“Zack?” Genesis asked, moving to block his view of the ledge. “Come on. We should be getting back to Cloud and Seph anyway. We’ve been gone for a much longer time than we intended.”

“Yeah,” Zack responded absentmindedly, cocking his head to have the ledge back into his sights. “Just… I wanna try something… Don’t get scared…”

He heard Angeal and Genesis scream at him, felt them try to drag him back, but Zack just brushed them off with a swipe of his wings. It was calling him, the spot that his body returned to the lifestream.

He wondered if he should have fought the tug instead of listened to it when a bright white light engulfed him and he felt himself falling. Hopefully, the others didn’t hold it against him. He could still watch over them from the lifestream. Then his world turned dark as if a light switch had been flipped.

**FINAL FANTASY VII**

Honestly, when Zack awoke, he wasn’t all that surprised to see Aerith looking down at him in concern. What he was surprised to see was Angeal and Genesis the Chocobo SOLDIERs looking down at him as well. It was not computing well.

“Zack?” Genesis asked, nudging his arm gently. “You okay?”

Zack groaned and shifted to feel his body, then stopped. He had gotten used to the Chocobo body he had, and now he could feel arms instead of wings, proper human legs, he could feel so much more then he could before. And he was quickly becoming convinced that he was somewhere between death and life.

It hurt to think but his girlfriend, Aerith, was still dead, and she wasn’t going to be coming back to them. Gaia wouldn’t let her leave the lifestream while something was threatening it.

“Zack?” Angeal asked, then nudged his head to try to help him sit up. “You doing okay buddy?”

“Y-yeah…” Zack croaked out. His throat hurt and his voice shook. “Wh-what happened?”

“You brushed us off when we tried to stop you,” Gen started softly, still watching him closely, his wing pressed against Zack’s arm. “But you walked towards the ledge. But you stopped and a bright light engulfed you. We couldn’t see what had happened but the next thing we knew, you were lunging off the cliff and trying to catch a pink blur falling rapidly from the sky.”

“When we got down here,” Angeal continued. “You were human again and cradling this young lady who has been silent since she woke up before you. We tried to get you back to Cloud but she wouldn’t let us touch you to even try to help you. She stood in the way.”

“Cool,” Zack groaned, his brain taking a moment to get everything processed. It was only when solid, warm, and gentle hands grabbed his that he actually registered that the other two were seeing her as well and that he had apparently jumped off the same cliff that he died on to try and catch her as she fell from the sky.

“Holy shit!” Zack shouted, yanking his hand from Aerith’s grip and then running his hands over her face, arms, anywhere he could reach anyway. “Fuck! Aerith are you okay? Is anything broken? Does anything hurt? Did I hurt you when trying to catch you?”

Aerith smiled softly at Zack and shook her head, pushed his arms away, and hugged him tightly. Zack quickly returned the embrace. Something had happened and while he was glad he could hold his girl again, he was terrified to find out what had happened to make her mute.

“Zack,” was the croaked whisper against his shoulder. “Zack.”

Zack held her tighter. Not mute, just hasn’t used her voice in a long time. Not for her physical body anyway. He wasn’t going to push her for information. She would tell them everything as soon as she was able.

“It’s okay, Aer,” Zack whispered against her head. “Let’s get to Cloud okay? He’s got a great place that we can crash at until your better, okay?”

Aerith shook her head, pulled back, and looked up at Zack terror and confusion in her eyes. “Zack… I…” Then promptly passed out against his shoulder.

Zack froze in shock, but then promptly wrapped his arms around Aerith and picked her up. He quickly turned back to Gen and Geal, trying to contain his panic. He probably wasn’t doing a good job because Genesis and Angeal had both moved closer to him and were trying to get him to climb onto Angeal’s back.

“Come on, Zack,” Angeal cooed, helping Zack climb up as best as he could. “When we get back to Cloud we’ll explain everything as best we can. He’ll be able to help us. Okay?”

“Right,” Zack mumbled, his body starting to tremble on top of Angeal. He tightened his grip on Angeal’s neck feathers. “Cloud will know what to do…”

Genesis and Angeal shared a look and quickly set off towards Cloud’s land. They had to return so they could get help. They didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know who this girl was and why Zack was so shell-shocked at how she was acting. Cloud would be able to help. Cloud has always known just what to do to make them all feel better, even if none of them gave any indication that they were feeling down or unwell.

“Hang on tight, Zack,” Angeal cooed while running. “We’ll be back home shortly okay?”

Zack didn’t respond, but his grip got tighter. Angeal and Genesis shared a look. They ran faster.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things happen. People met and speculate. Big bad evil boss man is built up more. Suprise visit from someone we all know and love!
> 
> Hello everyone! I just want to let you all know, once again, that all comments are appreciated and I very much look forward to reading all your comments, both good thank you for posting and bad can't believe you wrote this comments are appreciated! But don't just be mean for the sake of being mean. All 'bad can't believe you wrote this' comments should be made to be constructive criticism for parts you think were rushed, not done well enough, or just seemed unnecessary and bad for the story.
> 
> And I know this is probably going to make a lot of you sad, but this story is almost at its end. Just one or two more chapters left of this before it finally says goodnight for good.

Chapter 9

The barn was incredibly peaceful without the other three in it. It was nice to not hear the constant shifting of feathers and wings as they tried to get comfy. It was also nice that he couldn’t hear anymore whispered conversations between the three older chocobos while he was leaning against a wall or Seph. He got a lot of thinking done with Seph curled against him and sleeping peacefully.

The thinking involved plans for building a house for himself, and maybe making a room open to the outside for the SOLDIERs to sleep in so they could stay together and in a much more comfy place than his barn. Actually maybe that was why no one wanted to come and visit for more than just helping out with the Chocobos or getting Cloud to teach hopefuls about Chocobos. Most hopefuls were children who wanted to see a Chocobo up close and personal, but he enjoyed seeing the happiness his birds could bring.

His life was pretty much peaceful. Other than a few hiccups caused by the arrival of the four FIrst Class SOLDIERs, his life really hasn’t been in any way turned upside down and thrown for a loop. It was nice. Maybe after he helps the SOLDIERs find a way back to their original bodies, he could actually settle down and make this plot of land home for him as well as his Chocobos. Maybe he could even make his friends a guest house of their own, his land was big enough.

“CLOUD! SOMETHING HAPPENED AND WE NEED HELP!”

Of course, once Cloud actually thought that the Strife Curse had to hit and throw him a curveball.

Which is what led to Cloud staring blankly at the two very human figures on Angeal’s very Chocobo back while the very much still a Chocobo Genesis tried to explain what had happened. Of course, he was too panicked to make much sense, but Cloud did manage to get that they had managed to run all the way to where Zack had died, Zack had walked towards the exact spot he died, and then was suddenly throwing himself off a cliff to catch the female that was falling from the sky. Something happened and now Zack is human again and Aerith was alive and not in the lifestream.

What was his life anymore? What’s next? Aerith is too terrified of him to actually let him help her because he knows for a fact that the red blooming from her stomach wasn’t a dress design and it looked so very fresh.

“Cloud?” Came the soft voice from beside him, then a silver head nudging him to the side. “You need to move so they can get in so we can help her. Your mind melting and breaking can happen to the side or later. Miss Aerith needs help.”

“Right,” Cloud muttered, letting Seph push him out of the way. It took him a moment, but he was shaking off the mind-numbing sensation of seeing his two long-dead friends alive and human again. “Right! Aerith needs help and Zack is being really quiet so he needs to be looked at as well. Seph go get my bag from the other barn, I need the supplies that are in there and my phone. Something tells me I’m going to need Tifa real soon.”

Sephiroth nodded and ran off. Angeal had crouched down next to the straw they were using as a bed and both him and Genesis were trying to coax Zack off of Angeal’s back. Cloud went to help them.

“Hey, Zack,” Cloud cooed out softly. He was spending too much time with these birds he was starting to sound like one. “You’re safe here, alright? Nothing bad is going to happen. Do you want to get into the nest we made together last night?”

Zack nodded slowly and began to slowly climb off Angeal’s bak and into the nest, never letting go of Aerith or relaxing his grip. Cloud frowned slightly and moved to help Zack climb off Angeal, careful to not touch Aerith. His gut was telling him that was not going to help their current situation at all, it would probably make it worse knowing his luck.

“It’s okay, Zack,” Genesis cooed, taking over leading Zack into the nest. He carefully got Zack to let go of Aerith and curl against him. “It’s alright. You're safe now.”

“Angeal help me get Aerith laying flat where Zack can still see her,” Cloud said softly, moving to get a part of the nest bedding more fluffed and comfortable. “I need to check her over. It looks like she was hurt recently and I need to make sure it is either healing properly or has healed completely.”

Angeal nodded and moved to help Cloud get the bedding ready, Genesis’ soft coos and reassuring words the only other sound besides the shuffling of the hay. When Cloud deemed the bedded area done properly he moved over to Aerith and motioned for Angeal to help him, and carefully they managed to lift her up onto his back again and then onto the bedding without bending her and possibly upsetting her injury. Thankfully Seph returned after he got Aerith situated on the bedding, and gratefully took the offered bag from him.

He had medical blankets and supplies inside, but unfortunately, he had given Tifa and Barret his only Cures so he couldn’t use those. Damn him and his not being prepared for things. And damn Yuffie for stealing his materia all the damn time.

But enough of that, Aerith came first. Then he could dedicate himself to helping Zack out of whatever was plaguing his mind. 

Cloud worked swiftly and efficiently, directing Seph and Angeal as he went on things he needed them to run out and grab while he tended to Aerith. They had to stop and calm Zack down a few times when Cloud had to move Aerith’s dress and take part of it off her body to get to the cuts and gashes that littered her body. She looked like she had just gotten out of a fight with a swordsman and wolves with all her cuts and gashes. And for all he knew, she probably had. The lifestream was weird like that.

When Cloud finally rocked back on his heels and grabbed the heavier blanket used for actual sleeping instead of covering body parts to avoid flashing people, he had more blood on his hands and arms then he actually realized he had. Aerith was bleeding a lot, the back of her dress was soaked in blood so he had to completely remove it, which caused Zack to start panicking and trying to attack him. This was not an experience he wanted to repeat anytime soon.

When Cloud turned around to look at Zack again, Genesis had already gotten him to fall asleep against him, soft hums and coos keeping Zack peacefully asleep. Everyone seemed a lot calmer now. Maybe he could finally get a clearer picture of what had happened to cause this. Maybe Genesis wouldn’t turn into a sobbing melodramatic baby again.

“Okay,” Cloud began, moving back into his corner so he could watch over both Aerith and Zack while also keeping Angeal and Genesis in his sights. “Start from the beginning and tell me what happened in as much detail as you can.”

“We were running around,” Angeal began. “Zack was the one to suggest running laps around your land. He said it would be more beneficial to all of us if we ran off the negative emotions before coming back here. Said it would help Seph trust us more if we were able to approach him without anger in our systems.”

“Zack was always the one who had to deal with cases like Seph’s while we were in SOLDIER together,” Genesis added. “So I told Angeal to listen to him and do as he said. It helped a lot more than I thought it would actually. By the time we were halfway through the first lap, I found myself being able to think straight again. But it was only when I started thinking straight again that I realized that we were no longer on your marked property and were heading out into the wastelands around Midgar. I didn’t think anything about it, so I let my thoughts stray and I blindly followed Zack as he kept running.”

“I didn’t realize that anything was wrong until I saw a cliff ahead of us and Zack not slowing down at all,” Angeal continued. “I shouted his name and he jerked and slid to a stop, but he was too close to the edge so we dragged him back, Genesis scolding him for his reckless behavior. He didn’t really seem all that fazed by the fact that he almost ran off an edge, he just seemed embarrassed that he was so lost in thought that he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going.”

“Zack looked around to see where we were and to help us find our way back to your land,” Genesis continued. “Except while he looked around he said that was the place he died, and I don’t think he actually meant to say it out loud. When I tried to get him to leave faster, he kept looking past me at the ledge, or a spot just before the drop off point. He pushed past us both and shrugged us off as we tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t stop moving towards where his gaze was fixed.”

“He stopped,” Angeal continued hesitantly. “But he was engulfed in a bright light once he did, and when it faded, we saw him leaping off the edge to catch Aerith as she fell from the sky. It terrified us, but I don’t think Zack was actually conscious when he leaped off the edge. If he was, he hit his head too hard to remember doing so. When we made it down to Zack and her, Aerith was waking up but Zack was out cold.”

“She got in our way of checking on Zack,” Genesis said, glaring over at Aerith. “She wouldn’t let us near him no matter how unthreatening we made ourselves and no matter how much we tried to explain to her that we only wanted to help Zack. She wouldn’t move or listen.” 

“When Zack woke up,” Angeal continued, causing Genesis to look away from Aerith. “He looked at her and then instantly looked past her to see us. He didn’t acknowledge her until we told him he had jumped off the cliff to catch her. But even then he didn’t actually talk to her until she grabbed his hands in hers. Then he fussed over her as best he could. She passed out after saying his name, and then he held her tight and was silent like you saw the entire way back to you.”

Cloud hummed and shifted to get more comfortable in his more cramped corner. Seph really had a problem with moving quietly and just squeezing behind him to rest. It was highly concerning but at the same time, he didn’t want to stop him. Seph was a really soft and warm Silver Chocobo the perfect size to rest against and get really comfortable and just sleep against.

Cloud shook his head to get rid of the thoughts of falling back asleep against Seph, he had to stay focused. He was supposed to help Zack and Aerith, and be a stable rock that Angeal and Genesis can rely on while their worlds are still in complete chaos. He could do this. He could figure out how to help them.

“So let’s break this down into the bigger parts,” Cloud said, shifting to sit up and dig through his pockets. He unconsciously hummed the victory theme Barret was so fond of as he pulled out a pen and paper. “Perks of being a delivery man! Okay! So what I can see as the big things from your adventure is Zack becoming human after being at the place where he died, Aerith coming from the sky alive, and we were all very underprepared for this. Anyone see anything else?”

“You still don’t have a house to hold humans in,” Seph said, his head resting on his shoulder. “Add that to the list. I enjoy cuddling you, but sleeping like us has to hurt your back and make your muscles stiff.”

“Not adding it to this list but I will add it to the ones that I need to do around the land,” Cloud replied absently. “Anything else?”

“No,” Genesis and Angeal said at the same time. Cloud only glanced up at them before going back to writing on the paper.

“Okay,” Cloud said slowly. “It seems like it is entirely possible that Zack was given back his human form when he was in the exact place he entered the lifestream. Aerith was probably kicked out of the lifestream to protect her from something inside, or she was forced out by something inside the lifestream that is trying to gain more power and say over this world. Wouldn’t be the first time something tried to take over the lifestream, the only difference is that Gaia hasn’t tried to drag me into it to fight it off again.”

“Wouldn’t that mean that whatever was in the lifestream was stronger and attacked faster then Gaia could react?” Angeal asked, head tilted in thought.

“It’s possible,” Cloud replied. “But I don’t know of anyone strong enough to do that besides myself and I’m not going to ruin the lifestream unless I have a very good reason to do so.”

“What about the Cloud from Seph’s world?” Genesis questioned. “If nothing but you would be strong enough to do something like that so quickly, isn’t it possible he could as well?”

“That would explain why Aer looked so scared when I said that I was going to take her to you for help,” Came the yawned reply from Genesis’ wings. “Stop smothering me, Gen. I’m awake and feeling better than ever. Let me up.”

“Which would mean that Aerith is going to have a heart attack when she wakes up,” Cloud sighed, leaning back into Seph. “Great. And I am the only one around with the medical knowledge to actually tend to her and make sure she gets better as well.”

“He really messes everything up,” Seph sighed, moving his head to rest in Cloud’s lap. “Unfortunately, him doing this does make a lot of sense in a way. I was his prized possession, and the Ancient did find a way to send me away at the cost of her own life. He probably made her daughter tell him how to traverse the lifestream to find me.”

“True,” Cloud blindly agreed. Then blinked and looked down at Seph. “Wait, what?!”

“I forgot to tell about how I died didn’t I?” Seph said, sounding very sheepish. “Well, she couldn’t send me off to a safer place while I was alive, so she crept into my tent at night while the President wasn’t around and she stabbed me while I was sleeping. She killed me quickly and then asked her ancestors to guide me to the Champions world, where I would be safe. She joined in the trip and made sure I arrived safely before she destroyed her own soul so she couldn’t be summoned or called upon to lead the way to me. She told me the President had entered before she could leave, and after seeing what she had done and learning I couldn’t be brought back, he killed her when she refused to send him after me. He probably did the same to her daughter after he got what he wanted from the young girl.”

“Shit,” Zack said, finally free from Genesis’ wings. “That man sounds worse every time you open your mouth and talk about him. And here I was thinking that no one could be worse than the Hojo of our world.”

“Well this is an enlightening conversation,” Genesis droned out. “Maybe some Loveless will lift everyone’s spirits?”

“No!” “Say one word of Loveless and we’re eating you for dinner!” “What’s Loveless?”

Cloud blinked. Out of everyone in the room, the responses were all in line with what he was thinking, but to hear them all come out like that. Masterful. But did Seph really have to open his mouth to ask that question to the very man who had every play, book, and line memorized?

The soft female groan from the pile of blankets was a saving grace.

“Hey!” Zack yelped out, jumping to his feet and running over to Aerith. “She’s awake! Aer, you feeling better?”

“Loveless is more important than your stupid crush!” Genesis scoffed in anger. “Cloud took good care of her, so sit down and listen to me!”

Cloud chuckled slightly as he stood up and moved over to Aerith as well.

“Hey there beautiful,” Zack muttered softly, his hand holding Aerith’s shoulder to keep her in place. “You feeling better?”

“Y-yeah,” Aerith responded. “Where are we?”

“We’re at a friend’s house,” Zack responded, his free hand waving at Cloud to stand back for a bit longer. “Can you tell me what the last thing you remember is?”

Aerith frowned and closed her eyes in thought. “The last thing I remember?”

“Don’t force yourself to remember if it’s too much for you alright?” Zack assured softly, brushing Aerith’s hair out of her face.

“I-I…” Aerith began, only to open her eyes and look up at Zack. “I remember Cloud coming to the flowers where I was. I tried to talk to him, tried to figure out how he was there because I didn’t call him and Gaia was still keeping me in lockdown, but he wouldn’t answer me or look at me. When he did turn towards me, he swung a blade at me. It was too fast to see what the blade was clearly, but before he could hit me, Gaia yanked me out and threw me from the lifestream. On the way out, my body was attacked and my physical form was injured.”

Aerith shifted slowly and hissed in pain.

“Hey take it easy, babe,” Zack said, using his hands to still Aerith as gently as possible. “You really were beaten up really bad. If my friend wasn’t as good with tending to wounds as he is you would be in a really bad position.”

“Then I should thank him,” She said softly, her eyes starting to drift shut. “Can you get him so I can thank him?”

“He’s already here, Aer,” Zack said softly. “Go ahead and thank him.”

Cloud came closer, so he could rest his hand on Zack’s shoulder but still stay behind him. No need to get Aerith scared while she was resting and recovering.

“I see,” She muttered, her eyes drifting and staying closed longer and longer. “Thank you, Cloud.”

Cloud stiffened, but moved out from behind Zack anyway, his hand moving to brush hair out of her sleeping face. “You never have to thank me for anything Aer. I never need thanks for saving people, it’s just what I do.”

“You need to stop being so modest, boy,” Genesis said softly. “You do too much for us to not be thanking you. You do so much for everyone, people should be thanking you everywhere you go.”

Cloud didn’t respond. He just stood up and started walking out of the barn.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Just let him be, Gen. Cloud just needs space to process all this.”

**FINAL FANTASY VII**

Usually, when he wanted to take a stroll through the lifestream, he would have to fight Zack and Aerith every step he took. So when he managed to split from the lifestream again, he knew something was terribly wrong. The normal flower-filled meadow he always enjoyed wandering around was torn apart and wilting.

And a monster wearing Cloud’s skin was standing in the center of the destruction.

“I presume you are the reason everything is screaming and making it impossible for me to actually sleep peacefully for once.”

The monster turned to look at him, the twisted and curving blade in his hand coming up to point at him.

“I take it you either wish for a fight, or you want me to move along and leave you here alone?”

“Mine.” The monster spoke coldly. The blade was still pointed at him.

“I am yours?”

The monster nodded slightly.

“Fool. I belong to only one man, and he is not here.”

The area got colder around him. Clearly the monster didn’t like that response. But unfortunately for the monster, he was the master at pissing people off and kicking their asses. Just ask Genesis.

“If you truly wish to make me yours, beat me in a battle. If I win, you go back to wherever it is you came from. If you win I am yours.”

“Fine. But know that you will lose.”

The bastard looked like Cloud and even sounded like a twisted insane Cloud. This man was dangerous and insane. If he wasn’t in his right mind he wouldn’t even stand a chance. But Jenova had no hold over him now. She hadn’t had a hold on him for a while now, and Zack did love to spar randomly at any given moment.

This would be one hell of a fight that was for sure, and if he finds himself losing? Well, he can always just cheat and throw himself out of the lifestream again. He never needed Jenova to throw himself out after all. That was all him, he just always ended up right where the biggest mass of her cells were always located and found himself under her control faster then he could gain conscious thought.

Besides, not even Cloud himself actually stood a chance against him while he was sane and serious. This man would put up a fight, but he would ultimately fail.

And with a flick of his wrist, Masamune was in his hand and he was ready to take this man down.

Time in the lifestream was warped and twisted, but Sephiroth knew that with each clash of their blades, with each cut and wound they inflicted in their battle, the lifestream shook and shuddered. And so for hours, they fought, each one never gaining any ground against the other for long. They fought and the lifestream shook and shuddered.

When he jumped back away from the next strike instead of parried or blocked, the monster stayed in place and watched him, a smug smirk on his panting and flustered figure.

“Do you admit defeat?”

He raised an elegant eyebrow and lifted his blade to check his reflection. Long silver strands fell perfectly, his skin not even slightly flushed, not a drop of sweat on his person. A quick flick of his sword and a roll of his shoulders showed no strain or signs of fatigue.

“Admit defeat? Shouldn’t I be the one asking that to you? You are the one who looks ready to collapse at any moment.”

The monster growled at him and charged, his blade held in both hands ready to cleave him in half.

“So you still wish to fight? Fine by me. Then let us take this somewhere more favorable shall we?”

And with a quick flick of his sword, the charging man was thrown back and through a portal he had created, him following along quickly.

And with a quick elegant flip in the air, he had summoned his wing and was hovering over the monster on the peaks high on the Northern Continent.

“You may have the will to keep fighting, but even that will soon break. I will have you know that you should have just left while you had the chance. Cloud would have been easier on you then I am being. Cloud would have made you feel as if you actually had a chance at victory before taking it from you. But me? I will make you regret pointing your blade at me. You will find yourself begging for a death that may never come before I am done with you.”

The monster shivered slightly, and made eye contact with him, his eyes glowing brighter. He smiled at the monster and then charged, his blade sliding right through the monster's left lung unblocked and unstopped.

“You think I will fall for that? The only one who can control me with their eyes is not here. Maybe research your foes before going into a battle. Nothing worse than going into a fight blind.”

He was out of the way of the monster’s blade before it even twitched into motion. He was going to have fun ruining this monster defiling his Cloud’s image, and he would send it sobbing back to its own worlds lifestream.

The child version of him would never be hurt by this monster again.

Their battle continued full force, but it was becoming crystal clear who the true powerhouse and victor would be, and he couldn’t help but smirk. He would beat this monster into submission and then present him before Cloud. Maybe then his Cloud will actually look at him with something other than hate.

The thought excited him, and with that excitement, he fought even harder. This monster was strong enough to hold its own against him for long periods of time, but nothing would stop him from defeating this enemy and bringing it before Cloud to judge its fate.

‘Hold on, my dearest puppet. I shall have your enemy delivered to you so very soon.’


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long-awaited and highly saddening end is here! So join our heroes for a long brain-frying chapter that makes more sense the more you reread it. Because honestly at this point, we just need to take a step back and say "Sephiroth is a cat bringing his master presents to show his undying love and affection." And Cloud just rolls with everything, even with his brain broken and fried beyond comprehension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I might have replied to a few people that I would have this chapter up yesterday, and I know I didn't deliver on that, but I have a very valid reason for not having this up yesterday.
> 
> 1\. This chapter didn't actually want to end and we might be getting an epilogue as a wrap-up. So my normal 8-9 pages turned into 13 full pages of pure brain-melting goodness.
> 
> 2\. My internet died as soon as I had gotten the last sentence written and my document saved. So even if I wanted to post it at 12:30 am I couldn't cause dead internet is a pain and a half.
> 
> So without further ado! Enjoy this beautiful chapter that is actually longer than my other chapters.

Chapter 10

Seph watched Cloud closely as he spent the following week tending to Aerith. She was healing quickly for an unenhanced individual with wounds that would keep anyone else in bed and unable to move for a month at least. Zack was already working on helping her sit and stand while Cloud went out to tend to the Chocobos.

But Cloud had been holding his head and looking off to the north with a vacant gaze for a few days now. It scared him a lot, especially because Cloud always looked confused when he asked him if something was wrong. Not even Zack could answer him when he asked.

“Seph…”

Seph tilted his head and looked up at Cloud from where he was sitting, but he wasn’t looking at him. Cloud was looking north.

“Cloud?” Seph asked. He vaguely realized Zack was looking over from the barn, his hand frozen in an aborted motion to get attention. “Cloud what’s wrong?”

Cloud started walking forward as if drugged and unable to walk steadily. “Sephiroth…”

Seph stood up and tried to stabilize Cloud, but Zack was suddenly in front of Cloud, shoving him to the ground.

“Cloud buddy,” Zack called out, pinning Cloud’s struggling body down. “Cloud buddy you need to come back to me. Seph! I know we were going to wait until later but I need Aerith’s help! NOW!”

Seph nodded and ran off, his body shaking. He had never seen Cloud look so… possessed before. He had seen that look in Zack’s eyes when President Strife took control. He never wanted to see Cloud’s eyes have that gleam of dullness to them. His world was starting to take a turn and tumble for the worse, and he didn’t know how to deal with them.

“Miss Aerith!” Seph gasped out as he slid to a stop in front of her, he dully realized Genesis was helping her stand and Angeal was startled by the door. “Miss Aerith! Zack needs you! Something is wrong with Cloud!”

“Seph?” Aerith repeated, a frown crossing her features. “Seph what’s wrong?”

“Miss Aerith, please!” Seph cried. “H-his eyes have turned to look like mine but they look dull and like he’s not there! He tried to walk north but he was stumbling like he had little control over his limbs! And he won’t stop saying my name!”

“Genesis,” Angeal called out, moving to comfort Seph. “Take her outside to Zack. She doesn’t understand us and one of us needs to be here to comfort Seph. Zack should be able to explain what’s happening better.”

Genesis nodded and started moving towards the door as Angeal nudged Seph into the ever-growing and comfortable nest of blankets, hay, and straw in the corner. As Angeal bunkered down in the nest, curled around Seph, he watched as Genesis and Aerith left as fast as her injuries allowed her too, praying silently that Aerith was able to help Cloud. Seph cried silently under his wing, his trembling never stopping as he curled closer to Angeal’s body.

Seph fell asleep crying, listening to Angeal coo gently and lovingly trying to comfort him, but the voice that comforted him the most was one he knew no one else could hear, the one that gently told him that everything was going to be fine, that Cloud would be back to normal once he wakes up.

Seph liked that voice, the calm one that kept reassuring him softly that everything would be okay. He couldn’t help but feel like he was right and when he woke up, Cloud would be smiling and laughing with him again.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Aerith didn’t know what had Seph shaking and screeching at her, but whatever it was, Angeal had taken charge of the situation and now Genesis was leading her out of the barn while Angeal took Seph to the nest. She really wished she could understand them, then maybe she would be able to help them.

Genesis cooed at her as they exited the barn, then shifted his head to look around. She felt him stiffen as he looked over towards the left, then she heard the yell of pain.

“ZACK!” Then she found herself thrown onto Genesis’ back and she saw what he had seen.

Zack was groaning and holding his arm against the side of a shed, his arm twisted and resting in a very broken position. Cloud was stumbling forward like a drunkard, muttering something under his breath over and over.

“Genesis stop him!” Zack called out. “He’s being pulled by Sephiroth somewhere!”

Genesis ran right into Cloud and flopped down to land on his chest, pinning his arms to the side. Aerith clutched to him desperately to keep herself on him the entire time, which ended up with her looking right into green cat-like eyes on the face of her best friend.

“Cloud?” Aerith asked, tilting her head sideways. She had to make herself as small and harmless as possible while talking to him like this, that she remembered.

His eyes snapped to hers, the green growing darker as they met, until his pupils slowly started to return to normal, the blue slowly creeping back into his iris. “Aerith.”

“Cloud, can you tell me why Sephiroth is calling you?” Aerith asked, watching Cloud’s eyes do some kind of weird mix of blue and green.

“He…” Cloud started a frown forming. “He wants to show me something. Said I should come to him to see it…”

“Cloud,” Aerith said softly, shifting so she could slide off Genesis’ back and to the ground next to CLoud’s head. She was trying to keep her fear in check. Last time she was this close to Cloud he attacked her. “What if he’s just trying to get you away from everyone so he can hurt you?”

Cloud blinked, his eyes turning bluer as he continued to blink while looking up at her. Then he frowned, his eyes turning back to normal. “Sephiroth said I have nothing to fear from him. That he did my job for me and all he wanted was for me to see how well he did it and to reward him. But if you won’t let me go to him, then he is fine bringing the source of your trauma here to you.”

Genesis spoke up then, moving to sit next to Cloud instead of on him.

After several moments of Genesis ‘talking’ Cloud looked up at the sky in thought.

“I mean I guess he could mean when Aerith was attacked by President Strife in the Lifestream,” Cloud replied. “He sounded… Mad almost, like whatever the problem was had hurt someone he has a bond with. Maybe he found out that President Strife hurt you?”

Genesis made a noise that sounded almost like a scoffing snort.

“Excuse me for thinking that the Holy Trinity would have bonded like brothers in a company where you only had each other for any real company.”

Genesis almost whined in a tone that sounded something like betrayal.

“You’re just being rude now,” Cloud sighed out, slowly moving to sit up. “Whatever. He said he was on his way to us before he pulled away enough for me to not hear him anymore. We can ask him when he gets here.”

Aerith just cocked her head and blinked at Cloud. She had seen Zack talking to Genesis, Angeal, and Seph multiple times before and them responding, but Aerith had never taken Zack’s word that they could understand them at face value. She thought it was more like he was talking to himself and making replies up based on the response tone. To think Cloud could actually understand Genesis, did that mean Zack was also able to understand them as well?

Just how much did she miss while in the Lifestream?

“Wait,” Cloud started, turning to look at her. “Zack said you two had put Sephiroth to rest in the Lifestream already. How is he back?”

Aerith found herself unable to look at Cloud, instead, she found herself turning to look at Zack, who looked like he wanted Cloud to take those words back. Zack was still injured. “Zack is injured, I should go tend to him!”

She could feel Cloud watching her as she stumbled the few feet over to Zack’s side. Her legs were starting to burn and her back was starting to feel so unbearably stretched the longer she was moving, but as long as she didn’t have to answer that question then everything would be fine.

Besides, how do you tell someone that the person you killed three times was being controlled by Jenova, and even though he could see what was happening around him, he couldn’t actually do anything about it? With that person being Sephiroth, who could pull himself out of the Lifestream whenever he wanted and never actually merged with the Lifestream, only using it as a place to take a nap or get a few hours of sleep before coming back around to learn how to garden, to patrol with Zack to find any stray strands of Jenova that they had to get rid of before they could merge again, to prevent another plague like Geostigma, or sit by the lake and do some Cloud watching.

Actually, how do you tell someone that the person you consider your biggest enemy and a threat to the planet, is actually your biggest admirer and has fancied you since you caught Zack’s attention while still a Shinra trooper? That the great General Sephiroth had wanted to meet the adorable baby Chocobo named Cloud Strife and had an interest in becoming acquaintances with the one person left who could cow Zack? That that interest had turned into a crush as you killed him the first time, then love as you chased him around the world and then killed him two more times? That Sephiroth himself had found you the perfect match for him to love and cherish?

“Zack.”

Zack flinched as Cloud leveled him with a glare, demanding answers.

“Ah, well, you see,” Zack awkwardly started, trying to look everywhere but at Cloud. “I, um, might have not told the entire truth?”

Aerith could feel the coldness of the gaze on them as she took Zack’s arm and snapped it back into place. She would not give in. She would not be the one to tell Cloud that Sephiroth had probably saved the world just to get Cloud to have a civil conversation with him before he returned to the Lifestream to have a fangirl moment, and then go back to Cloud Watching.

“Ah, well, you see,” Zack coughed out, laughing slightly. “You know. Sephiroth is crazy. You understand and get exactly what I mean.”

“No, Zack. I don-”

“Don’t be silly!” Zack cut in quickly. “Of course you do! This conversation is over and will never be brought up again. Good? Good.”

“Zack!”

“Let’s go check on Seph!” Zack shouted out. “He was really freaking out when he saw your eyes! We should go let him know that you're fine and it's not going to happen again!”

“As long as Sephiroth is alive it will hap-”

“It won’t happen again,” Zack grounded out, glaring at Cloud so harshly, Aerith let out a very small sound of distress that no human could ever possibly pull off and pulled away from him. “Right, Cloud?”

When Aerith looked over at Cloud, he was hiding behind Genesis’ wing, trying to make himself as small as possible.

“R-right,” he muttered. “W-won’t happen again.”

“Good!” Zack cheered, the frozen, harsh glare gone just like that. “Let’s go check on Seph then shall we?”

As Aerith watched Cloud walk away, Zack with his arm slung over him, Genesis at her side helping her walk again, she could almost feel happy again, could almost forget her fear of Cloud. But every step she took reminded her that Cloud had gotten into the Lifestream without being called and had attacked her with the intent to kill her. He may be acting as if he had never done it, but she knew he had. Just like how Hojo was somehow crazy enough to make a Chocobo version of Sephiroth.

She knew Cloud had explained to her that they were from different worlds, but she really didn’t believe that. A lot of strange things happened around Cloud, but Gaia did a lot of things to keep order, and if they were from other worlds, then Aerith would have been told that they had broken through and that they had to be sent back to their proper worlds.

She had no reason to believe that they were from other worlds like Zack and Cloud were made to believe. Gaia would never allow it. Not unless she was helping them all get here to this world, but even then Aerith would have been told that new people were coming and she would have to help them along in this new world until they adjusted.

But there was a huge disruption and chaos that happened in the Lifestream when Zack was kicked out and at the same time, three Chocobos who went by the names Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth had appeared in the world at the same place as Zack, who was also a Chocobo.

Aerith blinked and looked back at Zack’s back. Surely Gaia wouldn’t send Zack instead of her if they were from different worlds. She was more connected to Gaia and could help them find purpose and reason in a new world. So surely, if Gaia did have a hand in this, surely she would have sent Aerith instead of Zack right?

Right. Gaia always called on her when there were issues in the Lifestream.

‘But this isn’t the Lifestream,’ a traitorous part of her mind argued. ‘The Lifestream was in danger and new people needed to be guided. Gaia had two guides she could call upon, one a warrior who could subdue the new ones if they tried anything and the other the one who mediated and fixed issues in the Lifestream itself.’

Aerith slipped into deep thought as she was led back into the barn, her mind racing.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Sephiroth caught himself humming as he tied the monster up. It was a happy tune that Cloud had a tendency to hum when he was having a hard time falling asleep while he was alone. Cloud also hummed it to the Chocobo’s he cared for as he made sure they had food and water. It was part of Cloud’s everyday routine, he didn’t even know if Cloud knew he was humming it anymore. It was a very nice tune that he was still trying to find the origin for. He would probably have to ask Cloud at this point where it was from.

The harsh hiss and the groan on the ground had him looking back down at the monster. He had tied that particular knot much too tight.

Oh well~!

He can suffer. He had hurt Genesis and Aerith after all. He also had the gull to brainwash and control Zack, then try the same damn trick on him. If the bastard actually wanted to succeed with his plans he never should have hurt his friends. Cloud would have been much nicer then he was.

What could he get Cloud to give him as a reward for giving him a break from constantly having to save the world over and over again? Maybe he could ask for the name of the tune he hummed. Or maybe he could get Cloud to teach him how to care for Chocobos. Maybe he could even get to talk to Cloud without the threat of being killed. Or perhaps he could request a kiss from the blue-eyed beauty. Oh, the options were endless!

Another pained yelp rang out from below him. This time he hadn’t been careful and had placed a rope into an open and gushing wound. That was going to be irritating and painful as that wound tried to heal.

Maybe if he did it right, the wound would heal around the rope and the bastard would have to reopen the wound to remove it.

Well, only if Cloud decided to let the man live, of course. He was going to give Cloud the last say on if this monster lived or not. Just like Cloud would have last say on if he would be left on this world or dragged back to his own. Even if he was stronger then Cloud, Gaia had chosen Cloud to be her Champion.

He only hoped Aerith would tell Cloud exactly what being Gaia’s Champion meant exactly while she was around. He didn’t want to be that guy that broke the news to you that your existence is now going to go on until Gaia herself is either destroyed or someone else takes your place as Champion. Besides, how exactly are you supposed to tell the guy that hates you that he is now immortal because Gaia always has enemies and her last Champion sent himself off the planet and killed himself where she couldn’t reach him.

Yeah, that conversation would never go over well between them both. It would be disastrous and Cloud would think he was insane and any chance he could have ever had would be blown out the window so fast it would be like it was never there in the first place.

“Can you fucking pay attention to what you’re doing and stop getting stuck in Lala Land?!” The monster screamed in pain.

Sephiroth looked at what he had just done. Tied to the point his muscles couldn’t even twitch, the rope was digging into gashes that were still bleeding, placed into open wounds that showed bone, and was overall just over the top in holding even him still. It was overkill, it was painful for the monster.

It was perfect for getting revenge for hurting Aerith like he had.

Though he did happen to grab Aerith’s treasured staff before they left the Lifestream, the one that she was able to summon to her whenever she wanted. She could beat on him a bit if she wanted to. He had killed her entire meadow that she worked so hard to make grow in the Lifestream after all.

Sephiroth had the passing thought that Cid Highwind was going to have a heart attack when he next entered the armory on the  _ Shera  _ and found this particular staff missing.

“I’m tied up now,” came the irritating call from the monster. “What are you going to do to me now?”

“Now?” Sephiroth asked and repeated. “I guess now is to see how well you take a high-speed flight from here to my Chocobo.”

And with a grin that would make anyone who saw it run and never stop, Sephiroth picked up the monster and took to the air, dangling the man by the end that he left long just for this purpose alone.

His screams were music to his ears though as he got higher and higher. The sheer terrified screams that met his ears when he purposely dropped and then grabbed the monster at unpredicted intervals was just the icing on the cake.

This man was going to be begging for death before they even reached his beautiful golden Chocobo.

Maybe Cloud would let him stick around this time. He wanted to spend more time with his Golden Beauty, this would be a good way to do so. Maybe if he phrased it just so he could manage it.

If anyone could hear what was happening at the altitude that he was flying, they would hear the monsters' terrified screams and sobs and Sephiroth laughing joyously as his mind was drifting off again.

“Help me,” the monster sobbed. “Someone help me please.”

But no one could hear the repeated pleas and sobs of the monster but Sephiroth, and they only made him feel satisfied. Even if this monster was allowed to live, he would never again try anything on this planet, the fear of the great General Sephiroth was not one that you simply got over. It was a way of life, one that either kept you alive or killed you.

“Oh, my Beautiful Golden Chocobo will be so pleased when he sees what I have done for him!” Sephiroth chuckled out. “He will be so pleased he might even grant a request of mine!”

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Cid and Vincent were having a grand old time on the  _ Shera _ . Cid needed to give his baby a good cleaning and Vincent was bored enough to join him on the trip back to Rocket Town to clean the ship with Cid. It was as they were crossing the ocean after an exhausting run for Reeve that they found themselves staring at the most unusual sight above them.

What looked like Sephiroth was flying through the air with someone really bloody and beaten tied up under him. Sephiroth was seemingly dropping the person and then dashing down to grab them back up, only to do it again and again, until Sephiroth was beside the  _ Shera _ and could look inside and see them. Sephiroth looked absolutely ruined, his hair windblown, his face red from unknown causes, his signature leather clothing ruffled and torn. But that wasn’t what kept Cid and Vincent in place instead of helping the man they could now identify as Cloud.

No, what kept them in place was the way Sephiroth’s eyes sparkled with what looked like joy and smug satisfaction, the way his mouth was forming a genuine smile, how his laugh so filled with life and joy could be heard through the glass. Not even Cloud bloody, beaten, and tied up, could bring them to move to interfere, not while seeing Sephiroth so human had them both frozen stiff.

Sephiroth waved at them, and they saw the blonde start screaming something that sounded like muffled pleas to save him, and then they were gone almost as if they were never there in the first place.

It took until they saw land again for Vincent to break the silence.

“Did he have Aerith’s staff strapped to his back?”

“More importantly,” Cid huffed out, shoving an unlit cigarette into his mouth. “Do we alert the others or just act like we never saw whatever weird courting ritual that was?”

“Let us ignore it for now,” Vincent said, turning to head down to the armory. “If Cloud needs help he will call. Let us go check on him after cleaning the  _ Shera _ if it will help you rest easier. I am going to go see if that was Aerith’s staff then I shall be back.”

“Got it!” Cid replied, putting his attention back onto getting them back to Rocket Town. “Let’s also have a day to recover just the two of us before going, just in case we do need to fight Sephiroth.”

Vincent laughed as he walked out of the room. Cid smirked when the door shut behind Vincent. He always enjoyed getting Vincent to laugh when it was just the two of them. He was glad he never got a crew for the  _ Shera _ . Him and Shera were fine piloting it on their own, and when Vincent came around, it was even funnier. Vincent was a good damn co-pilot.

The issue with Sephiroth could wait for a while. He had more important things to deal with before even thinking of Sephiroth. Like the fact that Vincent and his other parts had promised him a fun time when they got a chance to be alone and not have to do anything for a few hours. That was something to look forward to.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Cloud had to admit that when he ran out of the barn to figure out who was screaming like he was dying, he really wasn’t expecting to see himself falling from the sky with Sephiroth lazily flying behind him. It was very startling and also short-circuited his brain. He watched as Sephiroth caught the falling man right before he would have hit the ground, and at this point everyone in the barn was next to Cloud just staring in disbelief at Sephiroth, who was now standing on the man’s back, his foot grinding the man's head into the ground.

“That was fun wasn’t it?” Sephiroth asked, looking down at the man on the ground. He frowned when the man made no move to respond. “I didn’t kill you by accident, did I? That would be bad.”

Cloud blinked. His brain was so fried he didn’t even realize Zack and Aerith were looking down at him in concern until Seph nudged him into leaning against him on the ground.

“Cloud’s brain isn’t working right now,” Seph said softly, his wing moving to cover him. “I think he needs a minute to reboot.”

“Yeah,” Zack said softly, crouching down next to him. “I think we all need a minute to actually process what the fuck is happening.”

Sephiroth looked up at them, tilted his head, located Cloud curling into a Silver Chocobo with eyes like his but duller, raised an elegant eyebrow, then shrugged and moved to check on the man he was previously standing on.

“Your fucking crazy,” was the grumble that snapped everyone out of their dazes. “Your insane, and I’m going to fucking kill you for what you have done!”

Cloud felt Seph stiffen and pulled closer to him, the soft whimpers of fear that escaped from him were enough for Cloud to get pissed as he realized exactly who Sephiroth had brought to them.

“Oh please, do keep trying to kill me,” Sephiroth said dully. “But if you keep scaring the little one, I’m going to have to make a decision without the consent of Gaia’s Champion.”

President Strife was now kneeling on the ground before them, his eyes filled with terror as he met Sephiroth’s cold and hardened gaze.

“No smart remark?” Sephiroth chuckled out. “Good. Then I truly haven’t lost my touch on breaking wills. Now I believe you own a nice lady, an apology for destroying her entire meadow, a child for taking his childhood and ruining him, two well-meaning men for breaking their bones and trying to kill them, and Zack an apology for taking over his mind.”

“I have nothing to-” A sharp thin blade was in his mouth and President Strife froze.

“I didn’t ask,” Sephiroth coldly stated. “You will apologize, or you will eat my sword. Am I understood?”

“Y-yes,” President Strife said carefully around the sword in his mouth.

He stayed still as the sword was removed and then looked at them, his eyes filled with so much fear, Cloud almost felt sorry for him, but he knew what this man had done to Seph, what he had done to Angeal and Genesis, what he had done to Zack. This man would get none of his pity.

“I-I am sorry for everything-” the sword was back, but it was against his throat this time. President Strife made a very girly squeal as he flinched back from the blade. “Miss, I am terribly sorry I tried to kill you and that I destroyed the flower meadow you worked so hard to bring to life. I am sorry to the men that I threw around and tried to kill. I am sorry to Zack for taking over your mind against your will. I am sorry to Seph for ruining his life and for making him my slave. And I am sorry I ever tried to control you and make you my slave as well. I won’t ever do any of it again. Please. Please let me go.”

Cloud watched with eyes of stone. He felt nothing for the terrified sobbing man before him. “Sorry doesn’t erase what you have done. And even if you really are sorry, no one here you have wronged would ever accept it. What you have done is beyond despicable.”

“Miss Aerith,” Sephiroth interrupted. “I brought you your staff. Do you wish to make this man regret attacking you?”

Aerith blinked at the staff Sephiroth was holding out for her. Cloud blinked at the gesture. Then he looked back at the man who was looking at Aerith as if she was nothing to him.

“Give him a few good smacks, Aer,” Cloud said, watching the man’s eyes snap to him. “He did kill your flowers and throw the Lifestream into disarray. He also killed his Aerith’s family just to get Seph back into his grasp.”

Aerith stiffened, Zack stiffened, President Strife stiffened.

“H-how did?”

“So you really did kill them,” Sephiroth stated calmly, removing the blade from his throat. He walked over and put the staff into Aerith’s hands. “He killed them, and he did it in such a way that they will never be able to join the Lifestream and find peace. They will never be reborn or be allowed to drift forever or protect the Lifestream. You decide if you want to make him suffer for a bit or not. I already spent so much time just picking him apart and breaking him, but your touch would be the perfect finishing touch before the Champion decides his fate.”

Aerith snapped and screamed. Cloud watched as she hit the man with all of her might, Sephiroth throwing a Curaga on her to seal her wounds and let her go at him with everything. Cloud felt a level of satisfaction and regret run through him. Satisfaction for the man getting what he deserves, but regret because Aerith was too pure for this.

Zack caught her when she collapsed crying. He said nothing, not to them and not to her, he just picked her up and carried her into the barn.

Cloud’s eyes never left the bastard that was now curled as best as he could into a ball on the ground.

“Well, Champion?” Sephiroth asked, moving to stand beside him. “Your call. Does he die or does he live?”

Cloud took a moment to think it all through. If he lived, he could hurt others and try to come after Seph again. If he died, his soul would be a blight in the lifestream. Neither option sounded good to him.

“I can kill him and leave his soul shattered like he has done to many countless others he has killed,” Sephiroth offered. “Of course, I’d have to drag him back to his world to do so, but it’s an option.”

“Would that affect Seph in any way?” Cloud asked, hand tightening in silver feathers.

Cloud flinched and looked up as a leather-covered hand covered his.

“Seph will stay here,” Sephiroth assured, his eyes showing something possessive. “I won’t let him leave this world unless he wills it. I promise.”

Cloud studied Sephiroth’s eyes, looking for lies or anything to indicate he couldn’t be trusted. He couldn’t find anything, but what solidified his decision was Seph looking up at Sephiroth and nudging him, cooing softly as Sephiroth’s other hand gently ran through his feathers and his eyes softened with something like love and affection.

“Take him back to his world and show him the hell he has subjected countless others too,” Cloud stated. Seph looked back at him, his eyes growing sad and scared. He looked up at Sephiroth and looked him right in the eyes. “But you better come back to us, you hear me? I will never forgive you if you don’t come back to us.”

Sephiroth smiled, and Cloud felt his throat close up as he saw the adoration, love, possession, devotion in his eyes. Then Cloud felt lips press against his before Sephiroth was stalking over to President Strife and picking him up.

The pain-filled grunt as President Strife hit the ground a moment later was ignored as Cloud found himself wrapped up in Sephiroth’s arms, kissing the man for all he was worth. Cloud didn’t even register that he wasn’t touching the ground until they broke apart for air and he felt Sephiroth’s muscles flexing under his legs and arms.

“If this isn’t motivation to return as fast as I can, I don’t know what is,” Sephiroth chuckled, resting his forehead against Clouds. “Don’t worry, Cloud, I will always return to you. I promise you. I will return to you no matter how long it takes me.”

Cloud chuckled softly, tightening his grip on Sephiroth. “Fucking hell, Sephiroth. I should hate you. Why do you make me feel like this?”

Sephiroth huffed in amusement. “Talk emotions with Zack and Aerith, they are much better than I am at this. I just know that I love you, have for a very long time.” He looked over at the three Chocobo’s watching them, each one with various reactions, but it looked like they all agreed to go into the barn. “When I get back you better have plans for a house ready, and a small silver-haired boy running to welcome me back. I always wanted a son.”

Cloud smiled and unhooked himself to let go of Sephiroth. “A nice house on a Chocobo farm with a child running around to make our days complete, right?”

Sephiroth looked startled for a second, then he smiled down at him. “So you do remember that night in the library when you broke into the room to make me eat. And here I thought you forgot it.”

“I would never forget seeing you starving and dehydrated and talking about being a monster and not human,” Cloud murmured. “It scared me, which is why I was excited to hear that you still had a very human dream you wanted to work for. Might even be why I spent so long learning about everything needed to run a farm and care for chocobos. Though I am a traveler by heart so I’m not stopping my delivery service for you.”

“I would never ask that of you,” Sephiroth replied softly. “Now if I don’t go now, then I will never even leave to carry out what the Champion has declared that monsters fate to be.”

Cloud stepped back and watched with a small smile as Sephiroth grabbed the ‘monster’ and then entered into a portal. He knew Sephiroth was good on his word. This was the man that he fell in love with all those years ago before Nibelhiem happened and he lost him in the madness and lies.

“Looks like we got a lot of work cut out for us then, don’t we?” Cloud said, turning around to look at Zack and Seph. “And it looks like we are going to need to actually fill Avalanche in on Sephiroth being back again. Now, what do we want to do first? Get Seph a human body or build a house?”

Zack grinned and started spouting off possible locations for Seph to get a human body at, Sephiroth did die in multiple places after all, and Seph was eagerly going on about rooms that they could have for the house. Cloud couldn’t help the smile as they walked, him writing down every suggestion for locations and every room Seph wanted in the house.

He didn’t know when Sephiroth was going to be coming back, and he didn’t know if they would be able to finish everything before then, but Cloud could still start it all, looking forward to a future where he could finally call his family complete.

Though he still needed to actually sit down with Zack and Aerith and have an emotional heart to heart about what Sephiroth really meant to him and how he really felt for him after all these years.

But that was later and this was now. Cloud had time, and he was ready to spend it all with family and friends, waiting for the last member of his misfit family to return home to them all.

“Do you think Sephiroth would complain if we painted his room in the house pink?” Zack asked, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

Cloud found himself laughing. He would be alright, they would be alright, and his family was feeling more complete than ever. This was the life he wanted for himself, this was the life he was happy to live. And he couldn’t wait for Sephiroth to come back and live it by his side.

“Make it glittery pink,” Cloud replied, still laughing. “And all the furniture has to be in shades of purple or blue with more glitter. Glitter bomb the room.”


	11. Three Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set three years after the end of Chapter 11. Let's check up on what everyone is doing.
> 
> There is an attempted rape scene in the beginning, but it gets solved before anything bad can really happen. There is also Sex in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So this has a sex scene in it, and while I pride myself on making sex scenes as realistic and fantastic as possible, I decided to take a new approach to this one. I usually write these scenes as a third person omnipotent so everything can be seen as if you were looking in on the scene and was able to watch and get the thoughts of the participants, but this time I wanted to try something different. It's from Cloud's point of view and I think it came out great, but I would like it if those of you who do write this or have helpful critic could let me know if its good or not. If this works well, I might switch to using this method more, so please be honest with me.
> 
> And for those of you who don't want to read the sex, you will know when it starts. Trust me.

Chapter Three Years Later

"Cloud come on! We're going to be late for the grand opening of the new Chocobo Race Track!"

"Five more minutes, Zack."

"Daddy? I really wanna see the track. Can we please go earlier to avoid the rush?"

A heavy sigh and the rustling of sheets. "Yeah, Seph. Give me a minute to get ready."

"What the hell, Seph? Why does Cloud get up for you and not me?!"

"Cause I'm an adorable fifteen-year-old teenage boy who Daddy loves."

Cloud sat up, a smirk on his lips, only to laugh at Zack's face.

"Seph's got a point there bud. He is adorable. And he takes after his father so much it's only logical that I would be more willing to do things for my son then my best friend who put me through three years of romance hell."

"Fine. Come on, Seph, we're going to prepare the most sugar-filled breakfast possible."

"We don't have sugary foods in the house. You ate it all last night when you and Aunt Aerith came over to tell us she's pregnant."

Cloud chuckled as they walked out of view and left him alone. He turned his head to look over at the picture on his nightstand. Sephiroth, with half a king-sized chocolate bar sticking out of his mouth was trying to strangle Genesis for something, Angeal was trying to keep them calm and stop Sephiroth, and Zack was casually taking a selfie capturing it all, a giant goofy grin on his face. He really had to thank Tseng for saving this photo from the rubble of the Shinra Tower.

"I miss you," Cloud sighed, picking up the frame and running his fingers over it. "Is it too much to wish that you were here with me? I know we're just pawns for Gaia at this point, but I really just want a break from everything, for the two of us to finally have a chance to have our own little family."

Cloud sighed again and looked out the window. His farm had gotten an upgrade once they managed to find a way to get Angeal and Genesis back their human bodies. Genesis insisted on them having their own home on his land and then insisted that the Chocobos had better facilities to live in, a track to run in, a pasture dedicated just to them, and so on. Of course, it all had the flare Cloud was quickly coming to realize was just the way Genesis functioned.

"Everyone is back to being human now," Cloud said softly. "Genesis and Angeal built a home together on the edge of the land, Zack and Aerith have a nice place in Edge a short walk from her church and they have reconnected with old friends and have made new ones. Seph is getting an actual education at a school we all helped build and put together. Everyone is moving forward and going on with their lives."

Cloud sighed again and looked back down at the picture, then carefully placed it on the nightstand and got out of bed, moving about in his morning routine.

"Everyone says that you're not coming back to me. And as much as I hate to admit it, I'm starting to lose faith that you will return to us. It's been so long, and not even a single pull or peep from you. I never should have let you leave."

Cloud sighed again and entered his bathroom, exiting a few minutes later with a toothbrush in his mouth and half-naked. He snatched the clothes off the edge of his bed and reentered the bathroom. "Forgot my damn clothes again." Came the mutter from behind the closed door.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Cloud followed behind Seph as he explored the stables and track of the new Chocobo Race Track, as the owner had so originally named. The name could have used a bit more work, but the track was beautiful and highly detailed, each different breed of Chocobo had its own tracks to run, each one holding multiple tacks of various difficulty. It really was a work of art.

And Seph was loving every second of it.

Seph, the boy who should look almost exactly like Sephiroth, had started to have his hair turn darker once he turned thirteen until his hair had turned into a midnight black, though in the right light, it still shone like the moon. He had wanted to cut his hair once he had turned human, and Cloud was all too happy to let him, though when they tried to cut it on their own it turned into a disaster and Genesis, thank Gaia for Genesis, had found them and fixed what Cloud had done, and was a patient teacher in teaching Cloud how to cut hair properly. Zack had made a wonderful dummy to practice on in that endeavor.

"So," the owner of the track said, walking up to Cloud. "Does she pass inspection? Or do you think this will be too hard for the Chocobos who run it?"

Cloud looked over at the owner, contemplating. The man was clearly trying to earn his favor, that much was unmistakable, but Cloud really didn't like the way he looked at him and Seph. If Zack hadn't made him promise to be on his best behavior while out, he would have decked the guy and left as soon as that gaze landed on his son.

"The track is perfect for the level difficulty of each one," Cloud began, shifting to lean more weight onto his left side, trying to discreetly move away from the man next to him. "The stables could use a little tweaking, but they aren't meant to hold Chocobo's for longer then the races they are here for, so those are fine as well. The stands seem to have a nice view of everything, and the giant TV's look centered. Yeah, it passes inspection."

The owner looked pleased and moved closer to him. Cloud didn't even bother to try to hide it, he took five steps away from the guy and started to walk towards Seph.

"What do you think Seph?" Cloud asked stopping next to him. "You think this place will be a good place to come and watch some races? All the needs for Chocobos are being met, so only entertainment is left. So what do you think?"

"It's kinda a toss-up," Seph said, looking around at the stands again. "The tracks are interesting so watching Chocobo's run shouldn't make people lose interest, but I think it depends on the Chocobo's performance on if this place will keep drawing in crowds after the grand opening races are finished."

Cloud chuckled and looked back at the owner. "I knew letting you learn business with Tifa was a good idea. Well, I'm done here. You wanna take a ride on Fenrir to go see Tifa?"

Seph smiled and nodded excitedly. "Yes!"

Cloud chuckled and started to walk towards the exit for the tracks. "Well, my work is done here now. The rest is up to you and the Chocobos. I'll come back to watch or participate in a few races every once in a while."

"But your work here isn't finished yet," came the reply so soft that Cloud almost didn't catch it.

And then Cloud was jumping backwards and shoving Seph down, the owner pointing a tranquilizer gun at him. Cloud reached for his sword, only to curse as he had left his beloved blade with Fenrir.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Cloud growled out, motioning for Seph to hide behind one of the obstacles on the track. "Don't you know you shouldn't point guns at people?!"

"Don't worry," the owner replied, gun shifting to point at Cloud again. "I'll let the kid go, but I don't ever want you to leave. I spent so long making something wonderful so that you would notice me, I'm not letting you go. You belong to me."

Cloud heard Seph choke on air, and to be honest, Cloud wanted to do the same. This man was insane. Cloud blinked, and then his face was meeting the ground, Seph crying out in pain behind him. He managed to turn his head enough to see people dragging Seph out of the area, kicking and screaming. He had to move, had to get up and help his son. He had to get up!

The sting in his neck and the numbness of his limbs told him otherwise. While he could still move, it felt like fighting through molasses, taking all his energy just to try to reach out to Seph who was gooing still in the arms of the people taking him away.

Damnit! How could he have let this happen?! He was supposed to protect Seph! He was supposed to protect his son!

His eyes were too heavy to keep open and his head fell back to the ground, his limbs were falling asleep faster then he could fight it off. He could still feel how the man on top of him pawed at his clothes, rubbing and groping him in places he never wanted to be touched by anyone but _Him_.

Cloud tried to fight it, tried to fight as the bastard turned him over, but he was too drugged to even lift a finger. He felt as the first tear slide down the side of his face as the man continued to do whatever he wanted. He could only hope that Seph wasn't here to see this, that Seph wasn't being subjected to this as well.

"So beautiful and all mine~," came the sicking voice against his throat. Cloud tried to jerk him off, but when his body wouldn't respond, he tried to shut everything out.

The feeling of those damn rough leather gloves on his skin was torture, the rough brutal touches were going to leave bruises the would last for hours. Cloud tried to be strong, but as those hands reached under his pants, he choked out a sob, a broken plea for the man to stop. Tears were running freely now.

The hands disappeared, and Cloud tried to listen to figure out what was happening around him. The sound of a fight? Yes, that was the sound of a fist meeting a person's face hard enough to break bones. Cloud could hear the muffled screams of the owner. Or maybe his senses were finally being affected by the drug.

Leather gloves were back on his body, but this time they were softer, as if they had been used and tended to lovingly for years. It was much better than the rough new leather gloves. The gloved hands traced where Cloud felt the man grip hard enough to leave bruises, and Cloud breathed a breathy sigh of relief as he felt the gentle relief of a cure washing over him. When the hands removed themselves Cloud felt his shirt cover him back up, then a soft ungloved hand brushed the tears off his face, lingering against the side of his head.

"Hush now Cloud," came the voice that Cloud had been missing for three years. "I'm sorry I'm late, but I'm here now. You and Seph are safe. It's okay."

He felt himself being picked up gently, and he felt the solid soft but strong chest that he was pressed against. Cloud couldn't believe that Sephiroth had saved him. But the idea that it wasn't Sephiroth was even more heartbreaking. It was with these thoughts that Cloud's body finally lost the fight to the drugs and he was out cold in the arms of his savior.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

"How's Cloud doing?"

"He's fine physically, but mentally is another issue altogether. I won't know until he wakes up. It shouldn't be too bad, but that man had already touched him."

Strong arms tightened around his waist, and Cloud groaned, shifting closer to the body that was holding him tightly. He didn't care that people were talking about him over him, he just wanted to sleep. He had never felt this warm and safe before.

"Seems Cloud is nowhere ready to wake up yet. Take care of Seph for us for a few days okay? I'll go visit you both soon, but for now, I just want some time alone with Cloud."

"Of course. I'm glad your back Seph. Cloud seemed so lost these past three years. I never want to see him like that again."

"I know, Zackary. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I'm home now. I don't want to give this up for a very long time."

The sound of a door closing and footsteps walking away. A soft sigh against his head. Then lips gently pressing against the crown of his head.

"Sleep easy Cloud. Seph is being taken care of by Aerith and Zack so I can take care of you. Genesis and Angeal are caring for your Chocobo's and Cid and Vincent have taken up the delivery service until your back to normal. And I'm never leaving for such a long time again."

Cloud smiled against the chest he was laying on, his hand shifting to lay over his bedmate's heart. He was still smiling as he drifted off into the oblivion of sleep.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

Cloud couldn't breathe, and he hated his body for needing air. He pulled back to break the intoxicating kiss he had woken up to and tried to get air back into his lungs, only to lose it all to the gasps and moans the bastard was able to pull from him.

But damn he would never give this up for anything.

"S-Sephiroth," he gasped out, then moaned as Sephiroth sucked at a particularly sensitive spot on his neck. The bastard only hummed and shift them so Cloud was the one with his back on the bed and Sephiroth hovering over him.

Cloud shivered and tilted his head to give Sephiroth better access, his arms wrapping loosely around Sephiroth's shoulders, his legs spreading wider to let Sephiroth settle more firmly against him. His head was spinning, and that damn hand rubbing him through his boxers wasn't helping him get his head clear.

But goddamn it, he didn't know if he wanted to actually think about anything but what Sephiroth was doing as a wake-up call.

"Your mind is wandering, Cloud," Sephiroth purred against the base of his throat. "Want to share your thoughts?"

"Cursing the human body for needing air," Cloud replied breathlessly, tilting his head to look at Sephiroth. "And that this is a great way to wake up after a drug-induced sleep."

Cloud moaned as Sephiroth cut off anything else he might have said and found himself shivering and fighting Sephiroth for control in the sudden and very intoxicating kiss. When Sephiroth broke the kiss this time Cloud whined and tried to reconnect them, only to gasp at the very sudden cold against his very naked body.

And goddamn did Sephiroth do everything with his gloves on?!

Cloud's mind blanked, his back arched, and his moans and gasps and pleas fell easier. Sephiroth just slowly worshipped the lean and fit body under him with his mouth and hands, bring Cloud to the edge and then bringing him right back down again.

It was hot. It was a turn on. And it was oh so very frustrating.

At some point, Cloud registered Sephiroth had left the bed to do something but was back before Cloud could gain enough brainpower to come back to his senses. And he had to admit when the first finger slipped in, mindless bliss was much better than any thinking he could possibly do right now.

Sephiroth's mouth was back to worshipping his chest and neck, his hand, now ungloved, was back on Cloud's naked flesh toying with his balls and then his fingers running from the tip to the base of his penis. Cloud could only arch into everything, then thrust down as Sephiroth added a second finger and speared something so pleasurable inside him instantly.

It was too much for him, and Cloud couldn't even make out the pleas falling from his lips, but if he had to guess in his pleasure-filled haze, it would be pleas for more, for something bigger then fingers, for Sephiroth to just let him fucking cum already!

"So needy," Sephiroth purred, his voice rough with desire, his eyes darkened with lust as he looked down at Cloud. If Cloud could breathe properly he would have lost his breath at that look. "So beautifully on display. And it's all only for me."

"S-Sephiroth," Cloud panted out. His limbs felt like they were on fire, his body was trembling and rocking on the fingers still in his ass. It felt like more had been added when he was too gone to the pleasure to even feel the stretch of the others entering.

Sephiroth's eyes darkened further, and Cloud yelped as he was dragged up into Sephiroth's lap and into a brutal kiss. It felt like Sephiroth was trying to brand him with his mouth. Those fingers were removed when he was pulled up, but something much bigger was pushing at the stretched muscles, and Cloud moaned into Sephiroth's mouth and pulled himself higher and closer to Sephiroth.

That felt really huge, and Cloud felt as Sephiroth shifted his hips to give himself better access.

Cloud pulled his head back, breaking the kiss, and all but screamed as Sephiroth slammed him down, the tip brutally slamming into that bundle that made everything feel so much better, and then slide further in, and it was torture.

But it felt so damn good!

Sephiroth had to still once Cloud had taken every last inch of him in. And Cloud couldn't help the pants and moans that escaped him as they stayed still holding each other tightly. Sephiroth filled him so nicely, and every twitch brushed against that spot so wonderfully.

"Fuck, Sephiroth."

"D-don't move, Cloud," Sephiroth hissed out, grabbing Cloud's hips tightly. "Don't move yet."

Cloud moaned, Sephiroth was still twitching against that spot inside him. How the fuck was he supposed to not move? Cloud let his head fall onto Sephiroth's shoulder and started to give Sephiroth's neck open-mouthed kisses. Fine, if Sephiroth wanted to wait, he would find something else to take his mind off the twitching, pulsing, thick, and perfect flesh inside him.

Cloud sucked on the base of Sephiroth's neck, lightly of course, but Sephiroth jerked upwards, slamming himself in even deeper if that was even possible, and Cloud bit down on his neck in the sudden blinding pleasure.

When Cloud was able to regain some thought back, he was pinned under Sephiroth again, blood on his lips, the same blood that was running down Sephiroth's neck, with Sephiroth pounding away into him, watching him with eyes so much darker then he had ever seen them. And then Cloud was gone again, once again lost in a haze of pleasure so great he didn't even know how to do anything but pant, scream, and moan.

The only thing he could remember clearly from then on was how Sephiroth would keep changing the pace, keep making him scream his name, keeping him begging for release. How Sephiroth would bring them together for a sloppy wet kiss while he never once slowed down or lost his rhythm.

And as Cloud finally got the release he had wanted for who knows how long now, Sephiroth was right after him, buried as deep as he could go into his body, mouths once again laying claim to the other. Cloud was awake long enough afterwards to weakly help clean themselves up a bit, and then curl into Sephiroth's side and pass out, his head resting over Sephiroth's heart.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

When Cloud blearily stumbled down the stairs the next morning in only sleep pants, he was greeted with the sight of Sephiroth, covered in pink, gold, blue, purple, and silver glitter storming into the downstairs bathroom, leaving a trail of glitter dicks behind him.

He really had to thank Tseng for the glitter as well. He didn't even want to know where Tseng and Vincent managed to find glitter shaped like little dicks in multiple different colors.

"If it makes you feel any better," Cloud called out, carefully stepping over the trail of glitter. "That room was made as a joke room. Zack just really wanted to prank you. Your rooming with me, after all."

"That does make me feel better," Sephiroth said, appearing before him suddenly covered in so much glitter you couldn't see his skin.

Then Cloud found himself dragged into the downstairs bathroom, and he thanked Angeal for suggesting to have it another master bathroom, as he found himself pinned to the wall in the shower for a repeat of the night before, only this time, Sephiroth's hair was a multicolored glittery mess, and Cloud got to feel so much more of Sephiroth's body as he helped the man clean the glitter off of himself enough to be deemed safe to take Cloud screaming and moaning into the abyss of pleasure once again.

It was only much later, as they cuddled on the porch swing Barret had made him watching the sunset, that Cloud finally found himself thinking clearly again. And he had to admit, having the missing member of his family back made his life perfect.

**FINAL FANTASY 7**

"So you're telling me that I'm going to be a big brother?"

"Yes. The doctor said that Cloud's vomiting every day is because he's pregnant."

"Do we their gender yet?"

He could hear Sephiroth laughing from his place in the kitchen making dinner.

"No, they are too small to be able to tell."

"They? So I'm going to have more than one sibling?"

"I'm personally hoping for triplets."

Cloud could only groan and facepalm as he realized much too late that he should have been the one to break it to Seph that he was pregnant. Fuck. And he still had yet to tell the others had he was expecting.

He might have thought his life was perfect three months ago, but now he was ready to kick Sephiroth out of his life and just go back to his family just being him and Seph.

Sephiroth laughed as if he could hear Cloud's thoughts, and Cloud sent him a middle finger through the bond they shared. He smirked when Sephiroth choked on his lemonade seconds later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful support this story has gotten, and as much as it pains me to admit this, but this story is officially done. I might write a sequel about Cloud and Sephiroth's lives on the Chocobo farm Cloud owns and how they deal with their new addition(s) to the family, but that is going to have to wait until something else gets done and I have the space in my schedule for it.
> 
> Once again, thank you all so much for the love and support you guys have shown this story! It means more to me then you guys could ever know. I hope you all have enjoyed this story! And if you guys would like to read more of my works then go and check out what I have written.
> 
> I also have a new story that I am going to post in the next day or two so if you want to see what it's about come take a look! It still doesn't have a name yet but the name is a work in progress!
> 
> Thank you all for being such loyal readers and I hope you all are staying safe and having a wonderful day/night!


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